Janet Evanovich 1. The Manor-Hector

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar. Thanks to alix33 for the beta skills_

This is for T, K, M and Ybanormlmom and for all the rest of you who have publicly or privately let me know how much you enjoy my version of Hector and Zip.

* * *

**The Manor**

**Hector POV**

The club was crowded and loud and just what I needed to shake off the last vestige of feelings I was holding on to for Ram. I'd seen him with more than his share of women so it wasn't like I didn't know he was straight, but I had a bad habit of wanting what I could never have. Tonight seemed like a good time to break that unhealthy inclination.

As I made my way through the throngs of people to the bar, I started scanning the room for a potential quick fuck. A lot of the time the teardrop tattoo on my cheek scared off anyone with interest but that wasn't going to be the case tonight.

From the looks I was getting, I wouldn't be leaving the club alone.

A brave but stupid suitor approached me before I got to the bar. "Let's dance," he said, seriously invading my personal space. He was too short for my tastes and so pasty white I thought he might never have seen daylight. I was also sure if a strong gust of wind were to rush through the bar it would sweep him away and dump him a mile down the road because he couldn't weigh more than a hundred pounds, soaking wet. I did manage not to break his hand when he suggestively laid it on my shoulder, but just barely.

I got an eyebrow lift from Pauly, the bartender who'd witnessed the exchange, when I finally made it up to the counter after successfully deterring the guy. Pauly knew what I liked and set a tumbler of vodka on the rocks, with a twist of lime, in front of me without me having to order. After a small nod in greeting, he left to attend to other patrons.

I cradled the glass in my hand as I turned my back on the bar and leaned against the wood to survey the array of dancers grinding together in a joint display of obvious foreplay. I recognized a lot of the regulars and saw one or two I could easily have whenever I was ready, but for now, I was enjoying the show and was content to watch.

In the second between the end of one song and the beginning of another, the crowd briefly parted and that's when I saw him.

I shouldn't have been surprised; sometimes I thought he must have figured out a way to place a tracker on me or my truck without detection because the number of times he showed up when I was here was too many to be entirely coincidental.

His eyes, those fucking amazing eyes, were already zeroed in on my presence as if drawn to me by an unseen force. He easily made his way through the people and headed in my direction. Multiple appreciative glances followed his progress across the dance floor but he kept his gaze locked with mine. I didn't know why, but I couldn't make myself look away.

Normally I didn't have any trouble ignoring him, but this time I watched every step he took to reach me. I heard a faint thumping noise as he got closer and actually glanced down at my chest when I realized it was my heart racing beneath my ribs. Had that happened before? I couldn't be sure.

By the time he got to the bar, I was finding it hard to keep my breathing even and when he flashed me that half grin, the one that highlighted the sexy as fuck dimple in his right cheek, I felt my cock respond in a very primal way. "Hey," he greeted casually, leaning close to be heard over the blaring music.

I didn't respond, I never do, and he didn't let it discourage him, _not yet anyway_. Pauly appeared out of thin air and asked him what he wanted to drink. "One of these," he replied, pointing to the vodka in my hand. I looked down at the glass and realized I'd yet to take a drink. I lifted it to my mouth and closed my eyes when the deliciously cold liquid hit my tongue. I loved that first taste and savored it a second before letting it glide down my throat.

When I let them open again, I found Zip's on mine and witnessed the normally light gold flecks turn a dark and sultry amber. My tongue darted out of its own volition and swiped at the hint of lime in the corner of my lip. His eyes widened slightly at the movement and I couldn't drag mine away from the heat I saw burning at their core. This was about the time I would walk away from him and find a different spot in the club where I couldn't feel his eyes on me. But I stayed where I was, held in place by the force of his stare.

Pauly arrived with Zip's drink and he took it without looking away from me. When the glass touched his full bottom lip and he tilted it up, letting the vodka spill into his mouth, I had the strong desire to find out what that mouth would feel like wrapped around my dick. As if he could read my thoughts openly, Zip flashed me all his teeth in a smile that suggested all I had to do was say the word.

I wanted to, _badly_, but I knew it was a terrible idea. He was too young and too pretty and the fact that we worked together was a huge deterrent. Everyone at the company knew I was gay but I was sure I was the only one there aware_ he_ was. If we started something it was bound to get out and I didn't want to deal with the bullshit.

It's why I rejected every advance he'd made over the past year, and there had been many, but he was relentless and I wondered, not for the first time, what the hell he saw in me. I downed the rest of my drink and ordered another, setting the empty glass on the bar. Zip lifted an eyebrow, watching me drink, and I tried not to stare at his neck while he swallowed his own. His skin looked soft there, in the hollow peeking out at the collar of his form-fitting t-shirt, and I bit the tip of my tongue to quell the urge I had to lean over and lick him in that spot.

Pauly set two full glasses in front of us and I caught the slight grin on his lips before he turned to another customer. Zip lifted his glass in sync with mine and surprised me by clinking them together. "Cheers," he said and purposely brushed his fingers against mine before pulling the glass away and tossing half the drink down his throat.

The erection was immediate and painful at his touch and I almost groaned aloud at the pressure against my zipper. I was in trouble here and needed to walk away before this got out of hand. I finished my vodka and slammed the glass on the bar. It drew a few eyes in our direction but Zip's were the only ones I saw.

He was staring openly, the heated gaze moving from my eyes to my lips and back again. The desire to kiss me was evident on his face and if I didn't go now I was going to let him. I pushed away from the bar and took a step before a strong hand latched onto my bicep, halting my getaway. Heat burned through his fingers and I could feel it all the way to my toes. Zip pulled me back until I was leaning against his body and a shiver slid down my spine when his warm breath drifted right into my ear. "Dance with me."

The vibration of his voice did nothing but make my dick harder and I knew if I had any chance of getting out of here I had to say no but I couldn't get my mouth to form the word. Zip must have taken my silence as an acquiesce because the next thing I knew, he was leading me to the dance floor.

I didn't know what was wrong with me. I'd never let him do this before. He asked me to dance every time we were here and I always blew him off, but tonight I'd lost the ability to speak in his presence. I'd never let him touch me before either, yet his hands were on my hips and his muscled chest was pressed into my back as we moved with the relentless beat of the music. I let his fingers slide to my abdomen, pulling my torso back against his while he pushed forward. We kept rhythm with the music and with each other until the song ended. He didn't let go when he put his mouth to my ear again. "I need a shot."

And then he was gone and I stood alone on the dance floor, mourning the loss of his touch. _What the fuck is wrong with me?_ Before I could figure that out and before I could make myself move he was back and standing in front of me holding two shot glasses. He held one out and I took it instinctively. Zip lifted his and I mirrored the movement without thinking. "To..._beginnings_," he said carefully and then threw the liquid into his mouth. I followed suit and found him smiling at me when I brought the glass down.

"Another?"

_No!_ That was what I wanted to say but my shoulder lifted instead and Zip disappeared, taking the glasses with him. He reappeared again with two more rounds and we quickly emptied them. Zip dropped the glasses onto a passing waiter's tray and then I found myself dancing with him again while his hands explored my abs, my hips and my arms. Between the margaritas I'd had at dinner with Stephanie and now all the vodka, I was nearly drunk, and that was the reason I was letting this seduction continue. At least that's what I kept telling myself, even as Zip took my hand and started pulling me toward the exit.

It was unbelievably hot outside and when he pushed open the door and the blast of warm air hit my skin, I had a brief moment of clarity. _This was a mistake_. I needed to go home and then I needed to find a different club to go to. Maybe one in New York. I didn't think he'd follow me all the way to New York.

"I'll follow you anywhere."

_Shit._ How much of that had I said out loud? I looked up at him and found his golden eyes glowing as feral as a cat's in the dim light of the moon above our heads. Zip spun me around until my back was pressing against the hard brick of the building. He leaned into me, holding me in place with his powerfully muscled chest and stared directly into my eyes. The challenge was clear. _Kiss me or make me leave. _

My heart thundered in my ears as he waited for me to decide. This was it, all I had to do was push him away and it would be over. I didn't need this in my life. I didn't need him or anyone and I wished he would leave me the fuck alone.

_"Hector."_ He breathed my name softly and my ultimate resolve crumbled into dust. I wrapped my hand around his neck and smashed our mouths together. His lips were soft, _so fucking soft_ and I easily lost myself in the velvety smoothness as he took over, coaxing, teasing and finally demanding a reaction.

And I gave him one - a hot, wet, deep mating of lips, teeth and tongues as he thoroughly devoured what I'd been denying him for so long. I countered every bold stroke and we soon found a rhythm where even our heartbeats seemed to synchronize.

The sensual assault was filling something in me that I hadn't realized was missing and I found myself never wanting it to end. Inevitably it had to and I almost whimpered in distress when Zip finally separated our mouths.

He touched his forehead to mine as he tried to catch a breath. _"Hector?"_ It was all he said but I knew what he was asking. I was going to regret it in the morning but right now I didn't care. I never wanted anything more in my life and for once I wasn't going to deny myself.

"Let's go," I said and for the first time tonight, maybe the first time in a long time, I took control. Grabbing his hand, I led him to my truck before I could talk myself out of it.


	2. The Manor - Zip

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar - thanks to alix33 for the beta skills_

_For M_

* * *

**The Manor **

** ZIP POV**

"All I'm saying is there must be something wrong with him if he's not already in love with you."

I rolled my eyes and put her on speaker phone so I could finish getting dressed. "I think you might be a little biased, Mom."

"Of course I am. I'm your mother; I already know you're perfect."

"Zyla is the perfect one." And right now I was silently cursing my perfect sister. Ever since she moved across the country to go to college, my Mother insisted on talking to me about my love life, or the lack of one, once a week. I slid on an old pair of jeans and then dug around in my closet for a shirt as she went on.

"She used to be until she decided to go to school all the way in California. There _are_ respectable colleges in New Jersey, you know."

I rolled my eyes again but at least she'd quit talking about Hector. I didn't even know why I told her about him. I knew what she was like when she thought someone was slighting her children.

"Do you want me to talk to him? He is obviously clueless and I'd be happy to buy him a few." Damn, I should have known she wouldn't be that easily distracted.

_"Mom,"_ I warned as I discovered a chocolate brown Armani t-shirt I hadn't worn in a while in the back of my closet. It was a little too tight but that might work to my advantage. I pulled it over my head and tried to end the torturous conversation with my Mother. "You do know this is why Zy moved three thousand miles away, right? Because you wouldn't stop sticking your nose in her business." I checked my hair in the mirror and ran my fingers through it. The summer sun had bleached a lot of it blonde and I thought it looked stupid but there wasn't anything I could do about it.

"She moved there because she thinks she'll meet Brad Pitt," my Mom countered and I had to laugh because she was probably right.

"I gotta go, Mom. I'll talk to you next week, okay?"

"Are you going dancing?"

I sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed to put on my boots. "Yes."

"Will he be there? I could go and convince him to get his head out of his ass about you."

_"Mom!"_

"Okay, okay," she relented. "I just worry that you..."

"Goodbye Mother," I cut her off, completely done with the inquisition.

"Good night, Zip," she sighed and finally disconnected.

My Mother meant well, she really did, but she was relentless and I was half afraid she'd end up cornering Hector someday and not let him go until he agreed to go out with me.

The sad part was the other half of me secretly hoped she would do exactly that. I'd been trying for over a year without any luck so maybe _she'd_ have some if I let her have a crack at him.

Hector is an enigma and I wanted nothing more than to unravel the puzzle. He has a reputation and I know the history that some of his tattoos suggest but I also know there is more to him than he lets anyone see.

He likes that people are afraid of him because it means they will keep their distance but I've seen him sometimes when he thinks no one is watching and there is a vulnerable side hidden under his rough exterior. _That's_ the Hector I want to get to know better.

No one notices that side of him, because he doesn't want them to, but mostly they just don't take the time to see past his lethal nature.

_But I do_. And I want to see more. Unfortunately he won't give me the time of day and I think I'm nearly ready to throw in the towel.

I was going to try one more time tonight at the Manor. He liked to dance as much as I did and more often than not, I found him at the club. The last time he'd been there with Stephanie and I ducked out before either of them saw me. I thought it would be safe tonight because I'd been in the garage when Ranger got back from wherever he'd disappeared to so I figured she'd be occupied for a while.

I grabbed my keys and my phone and headed out, most of me still holding out hope I might be able to break through Hector's seemingly impenetrable armor.

I scanned the parking lot when I arrived, looking for his truck. Just as I was about to declare failure, I spotted the black king cab in the shadow of the building at the back of the lot. I parked close by and turned off the car but had a moment of doubt before I could get out. _Did I really want to do this to myself again?_ A person could stand only so much rejection and I was about at my limit. Part of me knew this would be a futile effort at best so I sat behind the wheel, listening to the cooling engine tick for a good long while.

Was Hector worth the ache in my chest every time he turned me away? I touched the spot on my thigh where I'd impulsively branded his initial over a year ago and made a decision. _Yeah, he was worth it._ He was _more_ than worth it and if I could just get through one layer of his wall, I might be able to prove to him that I was worth it too.

I ran a hand through the mess of my hair one last time and then made my way into the club. A blast of techno beat hit my ears when I pulled open the door and I pushed my way through tightly packed bodies to get to the front. That's where I knew I'd find him and when the current song ended, the sea of people briefly parted and there he was, leaning against the bar holding a glass of vodka and looking sexy as hell.

The ice blue t-shirt hugged the lean muscles of his chest and shoulders and a pair of black jeans highlighted his slim thighs and hips. I knew there was a knife in the steel-toed boots he was wearing and there was probably a gun strapped to his ankle. The whole image turned me the fuck on.

My heart lurched in my chest when he met my gaze and then tried to thump right out of my rib cage when he didn't immediately turn away. He _always_ turned away but those heavily lashed, whiskey colored eyes held mine the entire way. When I finally reached him and he still hadn't looked away, I couldn't stop the smile as I leaned in close to be heard over the music. "Hey."

He didn't respond, but he never did, and I didn't let it discourage me. I didn't want my eyes to ever leave his face, but Pauly asked what I wanted so I turned away briefly to give him my order and when I looked back Hector had his eyes closed and was taking a healthy swallow of vodka. I watched the muscles in his neck working and felt my dick go immediately hard. When he opened his eyes I was staring into them and when his tongue darted out, I thought I was going to lose control completely.

Luckily my drink arrived, affording a small distraction but I didn't look away, _couldn't_ look away, not even as I took a drink. _Grey Goose, his favorite_. For the first time, _ever_, I saw clearly what was on his mind and I couldn't stop the smile because it was _me_. Hector wanted me. My pulse pounded in my ears. _Tell me, Hector. Say the word and I'll give you whatever you want._

But he didn't. Instead, he finished his drink and signaled for another. I followed suit, tipping the rest of the vodka down my throat and as soon as I was done, Pauly dropped two more in front us. I grabbed mine and before he could get his to his mouth I clinked them together and offered a quiet, "Cheers," deliberately touching his fingers with mine before pulling away and downing half the drink. I'd never done anything like that before, but since this was my last hurrah, I was throwing caution to the wind.

His gaze widened at the contact and then he quickly consumed his drink and slammed the empty glass on the bar, eyes flashing with anger even though his breathing was slightly erratic. Hector was as turned on as I was, I could tell. _What would he do if I kissed him right now?_ Probably slit my throat but that thought didn't stop me from staring at his lips. He pushed away from the bar, away from me, and I couldn't let him go. Snagging his arm, I pulled him back until he was flush against me. "Dance with me," I pleaded into his ear. I wasn't above begging but Hector didn't respond so I made a choice, hoping it was the right one.

I tugged him out onto the dance floor, half expecting him to rip away from my grasp, but he didn't and I found myself exactly where I'd been dying to be for what seemed like forever. I settled my fingers onto his hips and when he didn't pull away I pressed my chest to his back and let the rhythm of the music take over. When there was still no protest, I grew bolder, sliding my hand across his stomach, pulling him back as I pushed forward. It took all my self-control not to sink my teeth into his neck when he dropped his head back on my shoulder and when the song ended, I somehow found the strength not to spin him around and take his mouth in a brutal kiss.

I could hardly believe what was happening. It was way too good to be true and I had to test the theory. I told him I needed a shot and left him standing there while I went to the bar. My hands were shaking as I made my way through the crowd. He'd let me touch him and it was almost too much to handle. I managed to get the shots fairly quickly but I convinced myself he'd be long gone when I got back to the dance floor.

I had to blink a few times when I found him exactly where I'd left him. What was going on? _Did I finally break down the wall?_ It was probably best not to think about it. I held out a shot glass and he took it without a word. I didn't know what was happening but this felt like _something_ so I offered a toast. "To..._beginnings._"

We tossed the shots into our throats and I found myself smiling again. This was too fucking good to be true and I never wanted the night to end.

"Another?" I asked eagerly even though I expected a negative response. Hector shocked the shit out of me by lifting a shoulder. I went and got two more rounds, surprised again that he was still there when I returned. We quickly decimated the alcohol and usually I would be buzzed after all that but I was too keyed up, too thrilled and confused and surprised about what was happening so I didn't think the booze would ever hit my veins. After ditching the glasses I brought him against my body again, moving with the beat of the constant music. I grew bolder, gliding my fingers over his arms, over the ripped muscles of his abs and back to the narrow flare of his hips. His head tilted back against my shoulder, his eyes drifted closed and when his arms found their way up and slid backward around my neck I think I lost my mind.

My skin was buzzing, my cock was throbbing and I wanted him so badly I couldn't see straight. I grabbed his hand when the music stopped and led him towards the exit.

The suffocating summer heat tried to envelope us when I opened the door and Hector murmured something about me not following him to New York. It was the first words he said all night and they didn't make sense but I wanted to disabuse his incorrect assumption.

"I'll follow you anywhere."

His eyes widened at my declaration. I pulled him out of the doorway, spinning him until his back was pressed against the wall right next to the door. I leaned into him, holding him in place and stared directly into his eyes, trying to let him know it would have to be his choice. _Kiss me, Hector. Kiss me or make me leave._

He didn't move, frozen in my penetrating stare. I breathed his name, half plea half prayer and then his hand was on my neck and our mouths met in a furious kiss. I was sure I'd died and gone to heaven as I sucked in every stroke of his tongue with the urgency of long denied desire. I savored every soft moan, every pull of his fingers in my hair until only the need to breathe forced an end to the unbelievable miracle.

"Hector?" It was all I could say but I knew he'd understand. It would have to be his decision again. He knew what I wanted, what I _needed_ but I would walk away if that was his choice. I touched my forehead to his and waited.

"Let's go," he said and I think I could have wept with relief. He led me to his truck and drove us to a cheap motel a block away. I waited in the truck with my skin on fire while he secured a room and when were finally inside, he began stripping me slowly, methodically until I was bare before him.

_"Hector…"_

"I know," he said, cutting me off. _"I know."_

I didn't think he did, but right then it didn't matter. He was letting me in, maybe not all the way but it was a start, a _beginning _and although I knew he'd see it that way, I had all night to convince him it didn't have to also be an end.


	3. Falling Slowly - Hector

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar - thanks to alix33 for the beta skills_

To all the guest reviewers I cannot respond to personally, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate it greatly.

_Very minor smut warning_

* * *

**Falling Slowly**

**HECTOR POV**

I looked at Zip one last time before pulling my shirt down over my head. He was stretched out on his stomach, completely naked, and sound asleep. I tugged the sheet up over him so he wouldn't get cold and then fought every instinct I had to crawl back into bed with him. I knew I was a dick for leaving in the middle of the night but I had to get out; I had to get away from him and knew if I stayed a second longer I'd never leave.

Since we hooked up at the Manor a couple of weeks ago, he'd been unrelenting in his quest to get me to agree to go out with him. _On a date._ Like we were teenagers or something. I reluctantly agreed to _talk _about it, more than once, and we did. Well,_ he_ talked, trying to convince me for the hundredth time that we should be together – even though I'd done nothing but discourage him - if you can call ending up at a shitty motel and fucking his brains out discouraging. I don't even know how it happened. One minute we were in my truck, _talking_, and the next his mouth was on my neck and I was driving to the motel.

Zip was making me lose control and I needed to end this, immediately. Ditching him now was a start. I climbed into my truck and slid behind the wheel, yet when I remembered we'd left his car in the parking lot of a McDonald's in the Burg, I couldn't seem to make myself put the key in the ignition. I could clearly picture the look that would be on his face if he woke up and found me gone, knowing he'd have to call a cab to get back, and it made my stomach twist into a painful knot.

_Shit._ I didn't want this. I didn't want to be in a fucking relationship. What the hell is he thinking? I'm not worth all this. I'm not someone that anyone should ever want to be with beyond a quick, anonymous fuck. I'm a sick and damaged individual and Zip deserves way more than I could ever possibly give him.

I swore out loud before turning the engine over and backing out of the parking space. I drove about a block and then as if I didn't have any say in the matter, I yanked the wheel hard to left, making an illegal U-turn, and headed back_. Fucking Zip._ He had me all tangled up inside and it was making me crazy. I drove too fast and the tires squealed on the asphalt when I turned into the motel's lot. I pounded on the brakes, killed the motor and slammed the door closed after getting out.

I wasn't quiet when I had to pick the lock to get back into the room and the noise woke Zip. He lifted his chiseled torso from the bed and turned his head, regarding me over his shoulder with sleepy eyes.

"Where'd you go?" He asked with that stupid fucking half grin that never failed to make my heart skip a beat. It pissed me off and I threw my keys down on the scratched wooden table by the window and kicked the door closed.

"Damn you, Zip. _God damn you_. What the fuck are you doing to me?" He only lifted an inquisitive brow at my outburst and that just incensed me further. "Why do you even want this? You can have your pick of a million other men, so why the fuck are you so hell bent on having _me_?" I was breathing hard, my chest heaving, and I couldn't control it. I felt like I was going to come out of my skin.

Zip moved so fast I barely registered it had happened before he was in my face and crowding me against the door.

"Because I see you, Hector," he said softly, placing his palm on my chest, over my heart, "right here. No matter how much you try and hide_, I see you_. The guy in here, the one who is gentle and kind and incredibly smart, he makes my heart race whenever I see his face." Zip skimmed his hand along my chest and rubbed his fingers over the old gang tattoo peeking out of the collar of my shirt before trailing them up and doing the same to the skull inked over the knife scar on my neck.

"That guy mixed with this one," his hand found its way to my cheek and his thumb drifted over the tiny teardrop under my eye," the one you allow everyone to see, is a pretty irresistible combination."

He bent his head and touched his lips to mine. They were so soft that I thought I might come unglued. My throat started to clog with emotion I hadn't felt in a very long time and I could barely swallow. He was going to bring me to my knees, this fucking kid who could see right into the darkest part of my heart and still find the small flicker of light left in my soul.

"And the fact you fuck like a champion doesn't hurt either." He showed me his dimple with a quick grin and I couldn't stop the sudden burst of laughter. It was exactly what I needed right then and I tried not to think about how Zip seemed to _know _that. He kissed me again and then tugged at the hem of my shirt, lifting it up and peeling it off my body. "Come back to bed, Hector."

At that point I didn't think I could say no if my life depended on it. Zip reached for the waistband of my pants and undid the button while I kicked off my boots and tore the socks from my feet. When I was as naked as he was, we fell on the bed and I hovered over him, staring into the molten gold of his eyes. I wanted to say something, _anything_ that might let him know what his words meant to me but I couldn't find my voice so I lowered my mouth to his and kissed him until all our air ran out. That still wasn't enough so I moved from his mouth, burning a trail of kisses down his neck and over the smooth expanse of every muscle on his chest and abdomen.

His hand rubbed over the stubble I was letting grow out on my head when my mouth reached his right hip and his fingers flexed on my skull as he parted his thighs and let me drop between them.

My goal was to get to the bottom of his foot and start back up the other side but I was distracted by the small mark high on the inside of his right thigh. Last time we were together I vaguely remember thinking it was an unusual spot for a tattoo, yet hadn't paid much attention to it. Now I wanted to take the time to discover what it was. I used my palm to gently push his leg back, opening the gap wider. I ran my tongue over it once and bent closer for a better view. It looked like...it looked like the letter _H_. I froze in place and my breath stopped in my lungs_. Did he really have my initial branded on his thigh?_

I lifted my head and met Zip's eyes. He was embarrassed, even in the dim light of the room I could see the pink blush tinting his cheeks but he didn't look away. "I did it a long time ago," he admitted with a small shrug and when I could only lift an eyebrow he nervously laughed saying, "I'm not sure if that makes this better or worse."

I dropped my gaze for another look and then skimmed my thumb over it. It was done with surprisingly intricate scroll work, the detail sharp and clean, _and_ _it was my fucking initial_. I bent my head for another taste and then another and when I nuzzled my cheek against it, Zip made an erotic noise in the back of his throat that turned my dick to stone. I crawled up his body and lowered on top of him until every part of us was touching. "It's the sexiest thing I've ever seen," I allowed before covering his mouth with mine.

The next few hours passed in a haze of sexual bliss that left us both beyond the point of exhaustion. I fell asleep sometime before dawn with my head resting on Zip's shoulder and my arm draped across his stomach.

I was in the same spot at nearly nine in the morning when I opened my eyes and peered at the bedside clock. I was supposed to meet Stephanie for breakfast at ten and wondered if I'd get the third degree if I cancelled on her.

Of course I would, it's Stephanie.

Zip was snoring softly and I did my best to not disturb him when I extracted myself from his arms. He didn't move, not even when I accidentally kicked the leg of the night stand and let out a string of curses.

I hit the bathroom and turned on the shower, taking care of other business while the water got hot.

As soon as the room was filled with steam I yanked back the curtain and stepped into the spray, pulling it closed behind me. The water pressure was strong and felt good on my overtaxed muscles. I lathered up a wash cloth just as Zip filled the tub behind me with his unmistakable presence. His lips found my neck and I tilted my head so he could have better access even as I said, "What are you doing?"

"Thought you might need some help," he murmured in my ear before licking the inside rim.

I let out a laugh. "I've been showering by myself for a while now; I think I can handle it."

"Hmmm." Zip's skeptical response was followed by his fingers removing the wash cloth from my hand. He ran it up my arm and over my shoulder, across my deltoid muscle until he stopped in the center of my spine, pressing it right between my shoulder blades. "What about this spot? I don't think you can reach here on your own." He trailed the cloth up and down my spine in slow circles and my cock swelled with every single one. "I don't think you can reach _any_ of these spots so you definitely need my help."

He alternated strokes of the wash cloth with swipes of his tongue on the back of my neck and shoulders until I thought I would die from the stimulation. When he dropped all pretenses of helping and let the cloth fall to the bottom of the tub, replacing it with his bare fingers, I thought I was going to come without him even touching my dick.

Pressing me into the tiled wall of the shower, he plastered his front to my back and slid his soapy hands down my arms. "Have dinner with me," he said directly into my ear.

My first instinct was to say no, that was always the first word that formed in my brain but I stopped myself from uttering it by biting my tongue. "When?" I eventually asked, a little proud of myself for not instantly denying him.

"Tonight," he replied and kissed my neck while his fingers flexed into my hips.

My stomach dropped a little as I remembered my schedule. I was going to have to say no after all. "I can't. I'm working the next few nights."

Zip was quiet, although that might have been because he was kissing his way down my back and not because he was upset.

"Will you tell me when you're free?" He finally asked, grazing his substantial erection across my hip.

"Yes," I breathed as his teeth sunk into the junction of my neck where it meets my shoulder.

"Good," he said before yanking my hips back and impaling himself inside me with a thrust so powerful it took my breath away.

An hour later, I dropped him off at his car, promising again that I would let him know when I had a break in my schedule and I was only ten minutes late when I walked into the diner to meet Stephanie.

"They're out of blueberry muffins," she said without preamble as I slid into the booth across from her. "What kind of breakfast place runs out of muffins? Do you want pancakes instead?"

Truthfully I wasn't even hungry but Steph didn't like to eat alone so I told her pancakes sounded good.

Our waitress arrived looking seriously put-upon and I wondered how much grief she'd gotten about the muffins. Stephanie ordered for both of us before leveling me with a knowing look.

"What?" I asked and took a sip of the scalding hot coffee that was placed in front of me.

"You got laid," she stated with a sly smile.

"So did you," I pointed out and she laughed.

"I'm married to Ranger, it's a daily occurrence."

"Excellent point," I conceded and drank some more caffeine.

She leaned forward, curling her hands around her mug like she was cold and said, "It was Zip, right? Please tell me it was Zip."

Sometimes I thought Stephanie was more focused on getting me to go out with him than Zip was. She was staring at me with such a hopeful look that I almost wanted to lie to her just to see if she'd try to strangle me in the middle of the diner.

"It was Zip," I allowed, maybe a little afraid to push her off the deep end.

"Did you guys talk?"

Our waitress returned with blueberry pancakes before I could respond and Stephanie was temporarily sidetracked by the gallon of syrup she poured over the stack. After stuffing a bite in her mouth, she chewed and washed it down with some coffee and then said, "Well?"

"I wasn't really in a chatty mood last night."

_"Hector,"_ she warned and rolled her eyes while taking another bite of pancake. I took the opportunity to start in on my own plate, the delicious scent finally making my stomach take notice.

Stephanie devoured the entire contents of hers in a matter of minutes and when she was done, she leaned back in the booth and pushed a stray hair off her cheek. "He did ask again, didn't he? Or did you do enough dick distraction to make him forget?"

I almost spit out the sip of coffee I'd just taken. "Dick distraction?"

"That's a thing, isn't it? I think that's a thing; Ranger does it to me all the time."

I let out a laugh. "I bet he does. Works too, doesn't it?"

She cocked an annoyed eyebrow but couldn't contradict me_. Dick distraction._ I'd have to tell Zip that one.

Whoa...wait. _Where did that come from?_ I didn't think like that. It was dangerous to be thinking like that about him.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to open up a little bit. Have a meal with the man, ask him some questions, and maybe learn something about him besides what size condom fits him."

That got her a double eyebrow raise.

"I'm nagging, aren't I?" She asked with a small grimace.

"A little bit, yeah."

"Crap. I probably sound like my mother." The thought seemed to horrify her. "Do I sound like my mother?"

"Somehow I can't imagine Helen Plum bringing up dick distractions or condom sizes."

Stephanie laughed and finished off her coffee. "True. Grandma would though."

"It actually scares me to think about the things your Grandma would talk about."

"That scares everyone, especially my mother."

"Can't blame her there." I took one last bite of pancake and pushed my plate away. I had no idea how Steph consumed all of that. I couldn't even finish half.

"I'm sorry for nagging you about Zip...I just want you to be happy, Hec, and it seems like this might be an opportunity."

She was right, it was an opportunity, I just wasn't sure happiness would be at the end of it. And yet I found myself hoping she was right. Stephanie glanced at her watch. "Shit, I gotta go. I'm supposed to meet Tank on the gun range in twenty minutes." I lifted an eyebrow. Steph hated the gun range.

"Lula wants a lesson," she explained as she slid out of the booth, "and Tank refused unless I was there to mediate."

"Sounds reasonable to me," I told her. For, Tank anyway. You couldn't pay me enough money to try and teach Lula how to wield a firearm properly.

"I just hope she doesn't shoot him before I get there."

"Maybe get out the Kevlar," I advised, only partially kidding.

"I love you," she told me with an another eye roll. "I'll see you later and think about what I said, okay?

"Which part? The dicks or the condoms?"

"I hope Zip likes your smart mouth." She left me with that parting thought and I followed her out a few minutes later wondering if he even knew I had a smart mouth. I'd done a lot of things with that mouth, but most of them didn't involve words. The truth of Stephanie's statement hit me when I was in my truck. I really didn't know much more than the size of his cock and the many ways he could torture me with his tongue.

What had an even bigger impact on my psyche was the fact that I actually _wanted _to know more. I wanted to know _everything_. His words from the night before came flooding back to me. _I see you, Hector. I see you, right here. _No one ever had before, with the exception of Stephanie, and there was a good chance no one ever would again. I'd never met anyone quite like Zip and really didn't want to lose the chance he was giving me.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled to the bottom of my Rangeman contact list where I found his number. I hit the button to call him before I could talk myself out of it. He picked it up on the second ring, with a surprised, "Hey."

"Are you working today?" I asked.

"No," he replied slowly. "Why?"

"I could use an extra pair of hands for a rewiring job in Princeton." I didn't need the help and actually preferred to work alone, but I was going with it.

There was a pause before he said, "Okay, what time?"

"Can you be ready at four?"

"Sure."

"I'll pick you up in the garage...and maybe we can grab something to eat after, before the next job."

There was another pause, this one longer and then Zip finally said, "Sounds like a plan." I could hear the smile in his voice and when I disconnected the call, I was smiling too.


	4. All In - Zip

**All In**

**Zip POV**

* * *

I knew by the look on Ranger's face as he strode across the garage that my already shitty day was about to get worse. Half the time I didn't think the boss was aware of my existence, but right now his hard gaze was focused directly on me and I was frantically trying to figure out what I'd done to piss him off.

"Zip, with me," he barked as he veered toward the Cayenne and I shot Woody a desperate look, silently begging my partner for help. Woody only shrugged and I flipped him the bird before trailing after Ranger who was already behind the wheel of his Porsche, waiting on me.

I took a breath before opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat. I didn't know why he was upset but I did know whatever it was would result in a session on the mats. It wouldn't be the first time but I was still dreading it. The last time I'd fucked up he'd paired me with Tank and my shoulder throbbed for a whole week after.

"What happened to your phones?" Ranger asked as soon as my door was closed. "Control has been trying to reach you and Woody for twenty minutes." He shifted the lever to put the car in reverse and backed out of the space.

At least I knew why he was ticked.

"Sorry," I automatically apologized. "The FTA we apprehended had a thing for baseball bats. He must have had over a hundred in his place and when we went in after him, he started swinging. Our phones didn't make it." And I was sure my entire right leg would be one big bruise by morning, but I left that part out. Ranger didn't tolerate whining.

"Injuries?"

I rubbed absently at the knot in my thigh. "No, we're okay."

"Good." Ranger hit a button on the console and a second later I heard Rodriguez through the speakers.

"What's up, bossman?"

"I need you to order backup phones for everyone on staff. Get them here by Friday."

"Copy that."

Ranger disconnected the call as we turned out of the garage onto Haywood. I opened my mouth to apologize again about the phones but he stopped the words and the breath in my lungs.

"There was a problem with the job over in South Pointe."

_Hector._ Hector was on that team. I couldn't breathe, couldn't even think.

"We don't know much yet but there are some injuries. I tagged you because Bobby needs help."

I knew I was supposed to be professional and not let personal feelings affect my ability to do the job but that was proving difficult for me. "Wh-Who?" I managed to stutter out and Ranger cut his eyes to me once before focusing back on the road.

"I don't have that information yet." He paused and I watched his fingers flex on the steering wheel before he continued. "Can you handle this?"

I could if Hector wasn't hurt. Obviously I wasn't about to say that out loud, although Ranger probably knew that's what I was thinking. His mind reading abilities were legendary. "I…I haven't taken my final exam yet so I'm not certified…."

I was the first to volunteer when the announcement went up that Rangeman was recruiting for a second EMT on staff. I'd wanted to be an EMT for a long time and had been saving money for two years to pay for the classes so it was an extra bonus when Rangeman ended up footing the bill. I just didn't think I'd be utilizing my new skills this soon.

"That's not what I asked," Ranger said curtly as he took the next turn at too high a speed. I grabbed onto the grip bar over the window.

"Yes, I can handle it," I amended hoping to God it was true. I started an internal chant that I kept up the rest of the ride to South Pointe. _Let Hector be okay, let Hector be okay, let Hector be okay._

"Bobby was with the team so he's already on site with his kit. I have another in the back. Because we weren't really supposed to be there we are trying to keep it quiet and haven't called in the police or emergency services yet, but it might be necessary. I'll need you and Bobby to assess that after you get on scene.

"Yeah, okay," I replied, trying to concentrate on what he was saying and not let my mind conjure all the bad things that could be waiting for us.

Ranger was quiet the rest of the way and when we arrived at South Pointe, he surprised me be by saying, "Hector's happy." He turned to me and held my gaze. "I know that has a lot to do with you and I hope it continues."

And then he was out of the car before I could even form a response. I might be wrong, but it sounded like a compliment…and also maybe a subtle threat. He didn't have anything to worry about, at least not on my side. I was doing everything I could to keep Hector happy and had no intention of ever stopping.

After I gathered my senses and steeled myself for what I might find when I got on scene, I grabbed the bag out of the back and ran to catch up with Ranger, trying really hard not to limp.

The scent of congealing blood hit my nose the second we were inside. There was no mistaking the coppery smell. By the strength of it, copious amounts had been spilled inside of the building. I kept close to Ranger's back as we made our way down a narrow hallway. He had his gun out and I followed suit, really hoping we didn't have to use them.

The first words I heard when we rounded the final corner were uttered by Lester and they inexplicably made me smile. "_Fuck_. My wife is going to kill me. She hates it when I get shot."

Ranger holstered his weapon and looked at me over his shoulder. "Coordinate with Bobby about the best way to help. I need to find Ram." He disappeared quickly into the room that was filled with the Rangeman team that had been in place and a bunch of people that had apparently tried to ambush them. There was blood everywhere.

Ram had been the team leader and I caught a glimpse of him in a corner, holding a towel to his head while Ranger headed in that direction. I had my orders and was making my way to Bobby's solid frame but my eyes were scanning every crevice for Hector along the way.

"Thank Christ," Bobby breathed when I reached his side. He was attempting to stop the bleeding of an obvious knife wound on Vince's right forearm. "Hold this in place," he demanded, grabbing my hand and pressing it over the towel on Vince's arm.

I applied pressure while Bobby unfurled some duct tape. "What the hell happened?" I asked as I discreetly kept searching for Hector.

"We were fucking attacked," Vince ground out through clenched teeth as Bobby stretched the tape across the towel. I helped him get it securely in place and Bobby picked up the story. "That will do till we get back," he told Vince. "You'll need stitches but I'll handle it later."

"It was an ambush," Bobby told me as he peeled off his bloody gloves and immediately reached for a new pair. "The majority of the injuries are the bad guys and a couple of the permanent variety but some of our team took some hits. I handled the most serious first but there are still some relatively minor ones that need attention. Start over there," he instructed, pointing to where I'd seen Ram.

I headed in that direction and patched up a bullet graze and a superficial knife wound along the way. I found Manny on the floor, holding his head, but as far as I could tell he only had a mild concussion. I was almost to the corner where Ranger and Ram were talking quietly when I spotted Hector. He was alive and conscious but the splatter of blood on his face and the spreading wet stain of it on his right thigh made me flat out run the rest of the way to him.

"What happened to your leg?" He asked me casually, like he wasn't leaning against a wall and dripping blood onto the floor.

"What are you talking about? And how bad is it?" I pointed to the tear in his pant leg that looked like it was made by a serrated knife. I was so grateful to find him alive and upright that it was taking everything I had not to yank him into my arms.

"You're limping," he observed, avoiding my other question.

"It's nothing. Has Bobby looked at this?" I slid on a fresh pair of gloves and kneeled at his side, peeling away the shredded pieces of his pants so I could see the wound. It was long, and deep and bleeding profusely.

"No," he replied. "It's fine."

I'd known he would say that and let out a frustrated sigh.

"It's not, actually," I let him know as I grabbed a couple of small towels from my kit. "It's deep and it needs to be stitched." I pressed the towels over it and looked up into his heavily lashed eyes. "I won't bother asking how much pain you're in."

A tiny smile turned up the corners of his mouth. Hector had an unusually high tolerance for pain and I would be surprised if he was feeling it at all. "It's fine," he said again and then he briefly touched my cheek. It was so fast I would have missed it if I hadn't been paying attention. "Go," he told me, "I'm sure there are others in worse shape than me."

With the exception of Stephanie and Ranger no one else was aware we'd been seeing each other the past couple of months and I know that he was just trying to keep it that way but there was no way in hell I was leaving his side. "You at least need to let me get this compress secured so you stop losing blood," I suggested reasonably. "I can stitch it when we get back to Rangeman."

_"Zip."_ The tone was a warning but I really didn't care.

"It's bad, Hector. And you're as white as a sheet so I know you've already lost too much blood. You probably need to go the hospital."

"I'm not going to the fucking hospital. Leave it alone." His eyes were hard and unyielding but I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Then stop being an asshole and let me fix it." I was louder than I'd intended to be and it drew unwanted attention. Hector's eyes narrowed when Ranger began heading our way.

He gave each of us a pointed look before demanding to see Hector's wound. "Even I can tell this needs attention, Hector." Ranger confirmed my diagnosis but before I could start feeling smug, he called me out on my own leg issues. "And you need to get off your leg and get some ice on it." Hector lifted an accusing eyebrow while Ranger looked around at the rest of the room.

"I don't think there is anything else you can do here," he said after a quick visual scan. "Take my car and get out of here. I don't want to see either of you for forty eight hours." He handed me the keys to his Porsche and leveled Hector with a patented stare. "There better be stitches in your leg before the night is over."

With that Ranger left us alone and I watched him walk across the room to find Bobby.

"Well?" I said, looking back up at the man that I was undeniably in love with. "Are we following orders or are you going to continue being a prick?"

Hector stared at me for a full minute before finally conceding. "Do what you have to do." He gestured to my hands still holding the towels in place on his leg.

I secured the compress and we managed to get out of the building without too much difficulty. I'm sure we made quite the sight, both hobbling together out to the car but no one seemed notice. I suspected Ranger had something to do with that.

I helped him climb into the passenger seat and when I slid behind the wheel and reached for the seatbelt, I was stopped by his hands yanking me across the console. He pressed his mouth to mine and proceeded to melt my brain with a blistering kiss.

After he separated our lips and let me settle back into the seat I turned over the engine but didn't back out of the space.

I turned, meeting his eyes, and told him what I'd wanted to say for a long time. "I'm all in with you, you know that, right? The good, the bad, the ugly, I don't care because I'm all in. I love you."

I didn't expect him to say it back, in fact I knew he wouldn't but I needed him to know. We had dangerous, high risks jobs and if something ever did happen to either of us I needed him to know that. I put the car in gear and was a block down the road before Hector gently took my hand and lifted it to his mouth so he could press a soft kiss to the center of my palm. "Tell me about your leg", he said and I was smiling when I began the tale of the skip with the baseball bat collection.


	5. Bullet Wounds - Hector

JE Owns the rights to anything familiar - all mistakes are mine.

I've been a little short on time so if I haven't responded to your terrific comments, please know I have read them and appreciate each and every one.

_**For Margaret, who may love Hector and Zip even more than I do. ;)**_

* * *

**Bullet Wounds**

**Hector POV**

"I can't apologize any more, Hector, and you know you would have done the same thing."

That was probably true but I was still pissed off. He knows how much I hate hospitals.

"I couldn't dig a bullet out of your arm in the middle of the street…are you really not going to talk to me?"

He_ could_ have, he just chose not to. Now there are police reports to be filled out and statements to be made and I'm in a _fucking hospital_. I haven't been in one since Zip took a bullet on the job and I hoped to never have to be in one again, but here we were. I know he's fine but since we walked in the door I can't stop seeing him unconscious and white as death with that bandage on his neck. It's making me nauseated and I want to get the hell out.

"Ranger gave the order," he went on and that snapped my head up. "Stephanie agreed with him, by the way."

Bringing Steph into it was a low blow. He knew I couldn't say no to her. "Is she okay?" I asked, speaking for the first time since we arrived.

"She's fine," he assured me with obvious relief that I'd finally ended the silent treatment. "And the lunatic with the stolen gun has been arrested. _Again._"

Stephanie, by proxy, was the reason all this shit went down, but I wasn't mad at her. She was just filling in at Vinnie's while Lula got the fat sucked out of her thighs, which was the answer I'd received when I made the mistake of asking, so really I should be pissed at _Lula_ for the bullet wound.

Unfortunately, Zip has been at the business end of my temper since he said he was taking me home and then drove me to the hospital. "At least something good came out of this shitshow. How long before we can get out of here?"

Zip grimaced and I rubbed at the headache starting to develop at my temples."Costanza is on his way here for our statements."

Great._ Just fucking great._ I leaned back in the chair and inspected the bandage on my shoulder. It didn't hurt yet but I knew it would ache later. I didn't have a choice when I saw what was about to happen. I moved in front of Stephanie and turned into her, taking the round in the meaty part of my shoulder. It was a small caliber weapon so I knew the damage would be minimal but that was preferable to Steph getting shot.

"Can you at least get me a new shirt? There are some in the back of my truck." An enthusiastic nurse had cut off the one I'd been wearing and I felt awkward sitting around without one.

Zip gave me a raised eyebrow. "Will you still be here when I get back?"

It was a reasonable question because all I wanted to do was sneak out the first exit I saw but I nodded my assurances and Zip took off for my truck. He came back so quickly I was sure he'd run the whole way and I slipped the shirt over my head while we waited in silence for the cops to arrive and release me from hell.

Another hour passed before we were done and I signed myself out of the hospital so we could leave. I still wasn't in a talking mood until Zip dropped a bombshell on me during the drive to Rangeman. "Let's move in together."

I'd been an asshole for the past few hours and had barely said two words to him and he thought _now_ was a good time to bring up living together? _What the hell?__  
_  
"Are you insane?" I countered incredulously.

"Obviously, but I don't see what that has to do with anything."

I laughed out loud. _How does he always know what to say to diffuse my brain?_ "You want to live together?" He cut his gaze to me as he turned onto Haywood and though he was grinning, his eyes were serious.

"We pretty much are already, so why not make it official?"

"How are we already?"

"When was the last time we slept apart?" He shot back and I had to think about it. When I came up with the answer, I will admit to being surprised at the passage of time. A week before he'd been shot was the last time we didn't spend the night together and that was over three months ago.

"You are either at my place or I am at yours and I don't see that changing any time soon, do you?"  
_  
__Try never. _ "You didn't freak out today," I commented, changing the subject. He doesn't normally handle it well if I get hurt, and I know exactly how that feels.

"That's because I saw what you were going to do and knew it wouldn't be that bad."

"And yet you still took me to the hospital." Zip gave me an excellent version of a Stephanie eye roll as the gate opened into the underground garage of Rangeman Enterprises.

"You're gonna have to let that one go, Hec." He killed the engine and turned his golden eyes to me. I reached out and brushed my thumb over the pink and bumpy scar of the wound still healing on his neck.

"That is sometimes easier said than done, mi amor." I wasn't mad anymore; how could I be when he looks at me that way?

"I know," he agreed and covered my hand with his, pressing them both into his neck. "We have dangerous jobs. Maybe we should think about a career change. I don't think anyone at the button factory gets shot or stabbed on a regular basis. Steph's Mom says they're hiring right now."

I found myself laughing again and then Zip's lips were on mine in a gentle kiss. "I hate when you get hurt."

"Me too," I told him. "Let's go upstairs."

"My place or yours?" He asked as we made our way to the elevator.

"According to you it doesn't matter." The door slid open and we rode the car to the 4th floor, ending up at my place since it was the closest to the elevator.

We ate some leftover Chinese for dinner and Zip fell asleep with his head in my lap while we watched some mindless television show. I let him sleep for a while but knowing we'd both be more comfortable in our bed, I coaxed him that way and he went under again as soon as his head hit the pillow.

I wished I could have joined him but I couldn't turn off my mind. I kept thinking about his comment on the drive home. We did practically cohabitate already so why not? Because it was a full and undeniable commitment, that's why, and I wasn't a commitment kind of guy. _Except as much as I want to deny it, I've been committed to Zip since the first time he touched me._

Rolling over on my side, I propped my head up in my palm and stared down at his peaceful face. He looked even younger when he was sleeping and for a second I let past doubts surface. _Too old, too stubborn, too broken…_

"I can almost hear your brain spinning," Zip mumbled into his pillow, "what's keeping you up? Shoulder hurt?"

A smile formed without my consent at the drowsy quality of his deep voice. Even half asleep he's still attuned to me completely and it immediately vanquished my wavering confidence. If this man, who loved me in spite of my many, _many_ flaws, wanted to live with me then I was going to make it happen.

"A little. I'm going to the living room so I don't keep you up."

"Nope," Zip said and reached for me, dragging me into his embrace. He settled his face in the crook of my neck and kissed me there before falling back into a deep sleep.

I managed to doze for a while, in the comfort of his arms, but slipped out of bed at just after five in the morning. I was going to take care of our living arrangements and with any luck I'd be able to do it quickly.

And luck turned out to be on my side. Ranger was sparing with Cal when I entered the gym and from the bruise forming on Cal's clavicle, they were probably just about done. No one else was in the room so when Ranger landed the final blow that had Cal raising his hand in surrender, we had some relative privacy.

Cal gave me a nod on his way to the locker room and Ranger set his dark eyes on me while he ran a towel over his head. "You want to go a round?" He asked with a grin, knowing I only got in that ring as a punishment.

"Absolutely not. But I would like a minute, if you have one to spare."

He grabbed a Gatorade out of the fridge and gestured to the benches that lined the boxing ring. "How's your shoulder?" Ranger inquired as we took a seat.

"Just a scratch. It'll be fine in a couple of days."

"That's what I told Stephanie when she demanded I send you to the hospital. I kept her from going though, knowing you'd hate it if she were there too. Did Zip survive the deception?"

There was a tiny tilt to his lips as he lifted the bottle to his mouth.

"He'll live," I allowed, not able to stop the smile.

"Good to hear. Now, what's on your mind?"

I could always count on Ranger to get right down to business.

"Is the renovation of apartment twelve complete?"

"_Shit,"_ Ranger said which made both my eyebrows rise in surprise. "I'm going to owe Steph another twenty."

_What the hell is he talking about? _ "Do I want to know what that means?"

"She bet me that you and Zip would be living together by the end of the month." He turned to me fully when I didn't respond. "That _is_ why you're asking about the apartment, right?"

"Yeah," I finally said. "Although now I'm not sure if I should be offended that you were betting against me."

Ranger laughed and finished his drink. He was in a really good mood and since he rarely showed that side of himself, I couldn't help but join in. "So we can have the apartment?"

"Shit, Hector. Both you and Zip have now taken a bullet for my wife. I'll buy you a fucking house if you want one."

"I think the apartment will do," I said with another laugh. "But I'll keep that in mind the next time I back her up on a capture."

"I'll let Rodriguez know and he'll take care of the details. You can move in immediately. Let me know if you want help and I'll get a team together." With that he headed for the exit and I tossed out my thanks before he made it out the door.

"You're the one who deserves the gratitude, hermano."

He left me alone and I didn't waste any time. I found Rodriguez already in his office and Ranger must have called him the second he left the gym because he already had the transfer paperwork started and was handing me a key fob by the end of our short conversation.

When I was walking out, he surprised me with this statement, "You and Zip are good together. I'm happy for you."

I could only nod as I left, a little taken aback at the sentiment. Zip and I hadn't exactly been hiding our relationship lately, but I didn't really think anyone noticed until Rodriguez said that. I appreciated the support since I knew there were probably going to be a few that weren't okay with it.

I went to the kitchen and got some of Ella's freshly brewed coffee for Zip and then headed back downstairs.

He was still sleeping when I entered the bedroom so I waved the cup of coffee in front of his nose a couple of times until he opened his eyes.

"Is that Ella's?" He wanted to know as he reached for the cup.

"Yep." I handed it over. "Drink it quick, we have moving to do."

Zip took a couple sips before what I said registered in his sleep addled brain. "What?"

"We're moving into the two bedroom apartment down the hall. I want to be done by lunch so drink up."

The blank expression on his face made me smile. "Are you serious?"

"I'm always serious."

Zip set his mug on the nightstand and I found myself being dragged into the bed by the collar of my shirt.

"I love you," he told me between kisses.

"I know."

"We're really going to live together?"

"Only if you stop kissing me long enough for us to move our stuff."

He kissed me again and then said, "Is it furnished already?"

"Yes, and painted. The renovations were finished last week."

His dexterous hands found their way up and under my shirt. "Then I think we should take a few minutes to say goodbye to this bed." He yanked off my shirt and attached his mouth to the bare skin of my chest.

The only thing I could argue about was the time. The bed deserved more than a few minutes for a proper sendoff.


	6. Dinner With Friends - Zip

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar. Mistakes are all mine and many apologies for those_

_Many thanks for all the reviews, the favorites and the follows of this story. It brightens my day._

* * *

**Dinner with Friends**

**Zip POV**

I was halfway through getting undressed when Stephanie called. In an excellent distraction technique, Hector put his mouth on my naked chest just as I answered the phone and kissed his way down my torso. His skilled tongue knew every spot that made me moan, made me hard and that made me beg him to fuck me and if he didn't stop, Steph was going to hear more than she ever wanted to.

I bit the inside of my cheek when he reached the spot just below my rib cage and breathed out, "Umm, what?"

"Dinner," Stephanie repeated. "He'll agree if you ask him," she assured me. _Right._ She wanted me to convince Hector to have dinner at her and Ranger's house out in Princeton.

The man in question was now working on the button and zipper of my jeans. I don't know how, but I managed to say, "You know he's not a fan of that kind of stuff, Steph." My pants came down and he took me deep in his mouth.

"_Come on_, Zip," Steph whined and I would be coming alright but not the way she wanted. Hector did a thing with his tongue that made me suck in a sharp breath.

"I'll try," I said quickly and then, "I gotta go." I killed the call and tossed my phone into the chair next to the bed."Do that again," I demanded and he happily obliged. It was a long time later, when I was lying sated in Hector's arms, that I even remembered she had called.

"Steph wants us to come to dinner tomorrow night at the Batcave." I kissed his neck and skimmed my palm over his Phoenix tattoo. Hector wasn't easily distracted but I'd discovered a few things in our time together that held his attention and he had a difficult time concentrating on anything else when I used my fingers, or my tongue, to trace that bird.

"Mmm," he murmured and covered my hand with his, holding it in place directly over the center of the flames at the base of the tail. "What time?"

He must be more relaxed than I thought. "Seven."

"Okay." He rubbed his thumb over mine and moved our hands further down his body.

"That's it? Usually Stephanie has to beg and plead and threaten."

"Zip?"

"Yeah?"

"I really don't want to talk about Steph or dinner or _anything _other than what I want you to do to my cock right now."

Well, okay then; I knew when to shut the hell up.

Hector was gone most of the rest of the next day and I hadn't brought up dinner again so when six o'clock rolled around and I hadn't heard from him I thought maybe he forgot. I was just about to call and find out when the phone rang, but it was our dinner host and not him.

"Has he tried to get out of it yet?" Stephanie wanted to know after my greeting.

"No, but he still has time."

"Hah hah. No he doesn't; it's too late now! Oh and don't bring anything, okay? I've got it covered."

That immediately made me suspicious. Stephanie rarely had everything covered, when it came to dinner anyway. "You aren't doing anything crazy are you?" I asked warily. "You know how Hector gets…."

"Yeah, I know," she cut me off, "and nothing crazy, I promise." Stephanie blew out a sigh and then I heard someone talking in the background that made me choke on the sip of water I'd just taken.

"Steph…was that my Mom?"

"Don't freak out," she said, which put me right into freak out mode. "I know how much he likes your Mom's enchiladas so I called and asked if she would make them. She's not staying…although she's more than welcome if…"

"_No_," I interjected, probably with a little more force than necessary. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what else did you do?"

"Well…"

"_Stephanie."_ She knows, and probably better than I do, that Hector refuses to celebrate his birthday and gets downright homicidal when it's even brought up.

"Just a Tres Leche cake."

I ran a hand through my hair and let out a mini growl of frustration. "He's going to see right through all of it."

"Probably, but we won't mention anything. It's only dinner and dessert; just because we're serving his favorite things shouldn't be an indicator of anything."

I snorted out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, okay, but you're not the one who has to go back home with him after the birthday dinner trying not to be a birthday dinner. You do know he sleeps with a switchblade under his pillow, right?"

"Are you afraid of Hector, Zip?" She teased.

God, she could be infuriating, but I loved her. "Does Ranger know what you're doing?"

"He knows we're having dinner…why? Are you gonna tattle on me?"

"I'm thinking about it," I warned.

Stephanie laughed in my ear. "No you're not. You're more afraid of Ranger than you are of Hector. See you soon!" And then she hung up on me. _Crazy_-_ass_ _woman_.

Hector walked in a second later and I was still holding the phone. He had a bottle of wine in one hand and take-out from Kabuki's in the other.

"Did you forget about Steph's?" I asked after he thoroughly kissed me hello.

"No. This is for later. You're going to need the fuel," he told me suggestively. "And the wine is for Ranger."

I picked up the bottle he'd set on the counter. "This is the merlot _you _like," I couldn't help pointing out.

"It's a self-serving gift." He put the food in the fridge and then grabbed my hand, trying to tug me behind him as he headed to our bedroom.

"What are you doing?"

"I got really dirty today so I'm going to need your help getting thoroughly clean in the shower."

"We don't really have time…"

Hector cut me off with a searing kiss and then we did a lot of things in the shower; very few of them involved cleaning.

Despite the bathroom activities, we only left a few minutes later than we should have. Hector was quiet on the drive, but that wasn't unusual. I was zoned out myself, thinking about how to diffuse the situation if Stephanie went overboard with the _"not a birthday dinner"_ dinner.

"Thank you," Hector said, startling me out of my own head, "for not mentioning what today is."

I gave him my dimpled smile, not really knowing what to say. I had the feeling something really bad happened at some point on his birthday but I learned pretty quickly not to ask too many questions. I've almost asked Stephanie several times if she knows about it, or if she knows _anything_ about his past or his family, not that Steph would ever betray that trust if she did, but I've stopped myself, choosing to believe he'll tell me when he's ready.

And then again, maybe he won't ever tell me. He did warn me from the beginning there were some things he would never be able to share with me and if his birthday is one of those things, I was going to have to learn to be okay with it.

I turned back to the window and focused on the scenery as we drove until Hector's softly spoken words made all the blood in my veins stop moving. "It's because of my Mom." He cut his eyes to me but I was too busy holding my breath and hoping he'd say more to offer a response.

He fixed his gaze back to the road and gave me my wish. "She died on my birthday five years ago. It's…it's just…._better_ when I don't think about it." When he had to clear his throat after that admission my heart seemed to break inside my chest. I didn't know what to say or even if I should try to comfort him. I wanted him to pull over so I could yank him into my arms and never let him go but that would probably make him even more uncomfortable. Hector took a slow breath and then finished with, "That's why I'm not big on…_celebrating_."

I wanted to ask more about his Mother but Hector tended to shut down when questioned so I reached across the console to take his hand. I squeezed it in silent support and he cut me a quick glance of gratitude so I knew I'd made the right decision. This was the first piece of highly personal information he'd ever revealed and I didn't want to ruin it by trying to get more out of him. I was now content in the knowledge he'd eventually tell me, it would just have to be on his own terms and in his own time frame and I would gladly wait for as long as it took.

Neither of us said anything else until we pulled into the Manoso driveway. Hector cut the engine and then turned to me with a serious expression. "What has Stephanie done?"

I tried to play dumb by giving him a confused expression but he was not falling for it. "She always does _something_ whether I want her to or not, so what is it?"

"Wait…there was an instance where you _wanted_ her to do something for you?"

He raised one of his perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "Steph is wrong; you're the one with the smart mouth."

I flashed him a grin. "Maybe kissing it would help contain the sarcasm."

Hector rolled his eyes but kissed me anyway before we left the truck and once more before he rang the doorbell.

Stephanie greeted us with a margarita in her hand and a smile on her face. She handed Hector the glass, kissed his lips and then treated me to the same welcome.

We were ushered inside and straight to the kitchen where the distinct scent of enchiladas was permeating the air. Recognizing the smell, Hector shot me a look. I shrugged and asked Steph if I could have a margarita too.

She retrieved a glass from the cupboard and filled it from the pitcher still resting on the blender base.

"Where's Ranger?" Hector inquired as he set the wine on the breakfast bar.

"He's out on the deck with Tank and Beth." Stephanie's eyes widened at the death glare I leveled in her direction. "You should go say Hi; they have some news."

Hector tilted his head in that direction, silently asking me to join him but I wanted a word with our devious host first. "I gotta hit the bathroom but go, I'll be right behind you."

He headed toward the back of the house while I returned my murderous glare to Stephanie's crystal blue eyes. "Tank and Beth? What is wrong with you?"

Steph smiled with her perfect white teeth and patted my cheek like she was indulging a small child. "You need to Relax, Zip. Have some of your drink." She wrapped her hand around mine over the glass and lifted it to my face. I took a healthy swallow and then went right back to glaring.

"Hmmm. Maybe we should switch you to straight tequila," she surmised and grabbed a shot glass off the counter. After filling it to the brim with Cuervo Silver, she handed it over to me.

"Trying to get me drunk is not going to help the situation," I informed her but I tossed the liquor down my throat anyway. "It was supposed to just be the four of us. If I get stabbed in my sleep later will you be able to handle the guilt?"

Stephanie laughed. "Hector doesn't seem upset and Tank and Beth aren't staying so stop with the laser beam glare, that's my move. Here, have another." She filled my shot glass again and I drank it, chasing it down with margarita. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I was doing it out of order but alcohol is alcohol and it will probably hurt less getting stabbed if I am full of tequila. Steph took a few sips of her own drink before speaking again.

"Before I forget, I'm going shopping with Hector tomorrow, do you want to come?"

I made a face and shook my head. "No. Shopping is Hector's thing. He's always bringing home shirts for me," I told her, glancing down at the most recent one to find its way into my closet. It was a deep burgundy button down and Hector's eyes got all dark and sultry when I put it on after our shower. I almost thought he was going to take it right back off. "Sometimes I think he buys them just so he can take them off me."

A sly smile touched Stephanie's lips, making me realize I'd said that out loud. Crap, I must be drunk already. "Actually, _I_ picked out the shirt you have on the last time Hector and I went to the mall. It looks good on you."

I felt the embarrassed heat rush to my cheeks. "I think I'll go say Hi to Tank and Beth now."

"You're extra cute when you blush!" Stephanie called as I quickly walked away from her. I found everyone on the deck where Ranger and Tank and surprisingly, Hector, were puffing on cigars. Ranger and Tank both had tumblers of brandy in their hands and Beth was leaning back into Tank's barrel chest.

"Zip!" She greeted when I stepped outside. Waving me over with her hands she said, "Come here."

I cut my eyes to Hector to make sure he was okay as I made my way to her. She grabbed my hand when I was within reach and yanked me the rest of the way, placing my palm over her pregnant belly.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed as I felt a powerful kick against my hand. "That's…._weird_. Does it hurt?"

"No," she said on a laugh. "But he's really active. Been kicking the shit out of me all day."

"He?"

Tank grinned at me from behind Beth. "Yup. We found out today it's a boy. That's why we stopped by."

"Congrats," I offered. "Seems like you are trying to grow the next generation of Rangemen… if you add him to Lester's three."

"Steph said the same thing," Ranger chimed in. "She thinks it's some sort of Rangeman sperm conspiracy that makes it impossible for anyone to have a girl."

"It's probably better this way," Hector said, and we all turned to look at him. He was staring out into the darkness of the back yard and I went to his side, where I belonged. "A girl would have a hard time with twenty overly protective, gun wielding uncles who would frighten any potential dates she might have."

"Touché," Ranger admitted and tipped his brandy glass to his lips.

"We're gonna take off," Tank announced a few moments later and ushered his pregnant wife into the house. Ranger was on his heels, leaving me and Hector alone.

He turned to face me and I moved in front of him, placing my palms on either side of his hips on top of the deck railing. "Are you okay? I tried to talk Steph out of this."

"I'm good, mi amor. We lived in this house for close to two months; I'm…_comfortable_ here." I leaned in and kissed him, tasting cigars and brandy.

"Okay, but tell me if it gets to be too much and we'll go." I touched his cheek, running my thumb over his tear drop.

A small smile titled his lips. "I love it when you look at me that way, but it also makes me want to fuck you so we better go inside." He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house. "Those are your Mom's enchiladas I smell, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't have anything to do with it. Steph conspired with her behind my back."

Hector looked at me over his shoulder as we made our way to the kitchen. "Stephanie can be very sneaky when she wants to be."

"Who's sneaky?" Steph queried, looking over at us as she laid out plates and silverware at the small table in the kitchen. I was just glad she hadn't set up a big production in the formal dining room. Sometimes I forget that she knows just as well as I do what Hector can handle.

"You are, _Estefania. _Very, _very_ sneaky." Stephanie's smile was always so big when he said her name in Spanish and I couldn't blame her. He mostly used English these days but his accent was sexy as hell. She kissed him on the lips and gently ran her fingers over his hair. If I didn't know Hector was a hundred percent gay, the intimacy those two have would make me nervous.I was guessing Ranger felt the same way or Hector would a dead man by now.

"It's part of her charm," Ranger said as he joined us in the kitchen. He pulled her against him for a quick kiss. "Let's eat."

Ranger opened the wine Hector brought and offered a toast before we dug in. "To good wine, good food and good friends. _Salud_."

We raised our glasses and began devouring my Mother's enchiladas. After Stephanie said how good they were about a million times, Hector prodded me into telling the story of how I almost burned down the house when I was a kid while trying to make them on my own when my parents were out of town. He'd heard the story more than once already but he still laughed about my singed eyebrows and the ruined curtains and the fact that my Mother still won't allow me inside her kitchen after all these years.

Ranger brought down the jovial mood a few minutes later when he mentioned what I wanted nothing more than to forget.

"I owe you two an apology," he said after finishing the last of his wine.

"For?" Hector inquired.

"Ace and Jay. I should have been aware there was a problem before it got so out of hand."

My stomach dropped at the voicing of their names. Hector and I knew they were both uncomfortable with us but we'd been mostly ignoring the looks and muttered comments until last week when I found myself alone with them in the gym locker room. I wasn't paying close attention to either of them so was caught off guard when Ace got in my face. He called me a faggot and when I chose not to respond and tried to reach for my clothes, he shoved me hard into the long bank of metal lockers. Jay joined him and they had me caged in like an animal.

Fortunately, Ranger appeared out of nowhere and yanked Jay's arm behind his back while his other hand shot out, connecting solidly with Ace's throat. He took both of them down in a matter of seconds and I heard later that Jay's hand was broken and Ace had to have surgery to repair his damaged vocal chords.

I hadn't even realized Ranger was in the gym.

"Their employment has been terminated and they have been removed completely from the Rangeman building. If I'd know about their…_intolerance_, I never…"

"Assholes," Stephanie chimed in, making Ranger's lips twitch in a small smile.

"I never would have hired them in the first place."

Hector squeezed my thigh under the table. He'd been off sight when it all went down and I'd had to talk him out of hunting them down and dismembering them when he found out what they'd done. I opened my mouth to respond to Ranger but Hector beat me to it.

"I should be the one apologizing," he said. "I'm sorry our…_lifestyle_ caused a problem. I should have…"

"Stop!" Stephanie interrupted forcefully. "The only ones who should be sorry are the homophobic, shitbag, asshats who dared say horrible things about my guys. They got no less than they deserve as far as I'm concerned and since they are long gone, and good riddance, we can let it go and move on. Capisce?"

"Capisce," Ranger, Hector and I agreed after her outburst. It seemed the only logical response.

"Good, because it's time for cake!"

We ate Hector's "not a birthday cake" cake, well Ranger only had a single bite of Stephanie's piece, and finished the bottle of wine and after the food and drink was all gone, Hector and I headed out.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" I asked as we eased out of the driveway.

"Nothing where I get to be with you is bad, Zip."

The man had a knack for saying things that hit me right in the heart and I had to swallow the unexpected emotion. "Ditto," I was finally able to say without my voice cracking.

It was the last thing either of us said the rest of the night. Not a lot of talking was needed after that.


	7. The House - Hector

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar. Mistakes are all mine - sorry about those_

_Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites and follows it brightens my days to know how much you are enjoying these two unconventional Merry Men._

* * *

**The House**

**Hector POV**

Zip let out an exasperated sigh into the phone and continued what sounded like an exhausting conversation with his sister. "Zyla, you're starting to sound like Mom. I am _not_ telling you about that. I think I should be entitled to at least a little bit of privacy."

I reached across the center console and laced our fingers together as I maneuvered my truck through the streets of Trenton. He squeezed my hand and shot me a quick smile before rolling his eyes and saying into the phone, "What? _No_. Jesus, Zy. Do I ask you about your sex life? Oh my god, stop talking immediately. I do _not _want to hear this."

He pulled the phone away from his head and although I could hear her voice I couldn't make out what she was saying. From the horrified look on Zip's face, I was grateful. The talking stopped and he put it back to his ear. "Of course I wasn't listening and if you tell me about his crooked dick again I am not coming to visit you for Thanksgiving." He closed his eyes and shook his head and then he told her, "I'm hanging up now."

I heard her loud laugh before he managed to disconnect the call. "Christ," he muttered as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. "My sister likes to torture me."

"That's what siblings are for," I replied absently as I turned into the driveway and cut the engine.

"Do you have a sister that likes to screw with you too?" I'd never told him much about my family so he had no way of knowing the innocent question made it feel like someone had wrapped a fist around my heart and was trying to rip it right out of my chest.

I don't know how long I sat there without speaking but Zip finally broke the silence. "Where are we?" I turned to look him and found him staring out the windshield at the two story house in front of us.

Part of the reason I loved him was because he pushed when I needed it but he also knew when he shouldn't. I let out a slow breath and buried the memories of my sister before I opened the door. "C'mon," I said, but Zip stopped me with a hand on my arm and a quiet apology.

"Don't," I told him, hating that he felt he needed to apologize for wanting to know what he probably already should. "Let's go inside."

He followed me up the stone sidewalk to the front door and stood beside me silently while I dug the key out of my pocket. When I got it open, I stepped inside the small foyer and held the door while he came in behind me.

The house was older and had fallen into disrepair but I liked the green siding mixed with stone on the front and the wide staircase that started in the foyer and wound in a long curve to the second floor. The previous owners had restored all the wood inside to a deep cherry finish, which was beautiful, but the rest of the interior was in desperate need of renovation. I was hoping Zip would help me with that.

"It needs some work," I mused, wandering into the great room. Zip was behind me and I could almost hear all the questions churning in his head that he'd yet to voice. My eyes traveled over the peeling wallpaper and the thread-bare carpet before I set them on Zip's confused expression.

His hands were in his pockets and he stood watching me, waiting for the reason I'd brought him to an old, empty house and I suddenly felt incredibly nervous, although I don't know why. He'd proved time and time again he was all in with me so the insecurities that always seem to creep into my head were entirely unjustified.

I had a whole spiel prepared but standing there looking at the man I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving and knowing he felt the same, I completely changed what I was going to say to him. Zip didn't know, because I'd never told him but we had something in common. Although it went against my nature to talk to anyone about my past, I wanted him to be the one to hear it. Since we'd both lost a sibling to violence, he would be able to understand when no one else did.

I'd told him a little about my Mother but I'd never even mentioned the rest of my family and it was _way_ past time. "I never really knew my Dad," I started and Zip went completely still as his eyes zeroed in on mine. "He split when I was a kid. I have a brother who hasn't spoken to me in years and my sister…" This would be the hardest thing for me to discuss and I had to pause and fight back the guilt that still surges every time I think of her.

"My sister's name was Elena. She was murdered by a rival gang member in retaliation of a perceived slight." I swallowed hard and touched the tattoo on my neck. "I don't cover it up because I want the reminder of what my choices led to and of what I promised myself I would never become again."

Inevitably, my mind went to the night after I'd found her, and what I did to the ones responsible. It brought a sudden and complete stop to the speech I was thrusting upon Zip and I had to turn away from his piercing gaze. Maybe someday I would tell him all of it, but not today.

His strong arms came around me from behind and he pressed his lips to the tattoo on my neck. "Nothing you say could ever make me love you less, Hector. Do you want to tell me the rest?"

I turned in his arms. "Not now. But I will."

"Thank you for trusting me," he said softly and kissed me lightly.

"_Finally,"_ I chided myself, knowing he'd been waiting for a long time to learn anything that personal about me, but Zip only shook his head.

"Everyone has to go at their own pace, I get that."

Did he ever. He certainly got _me_ and not a day went by where I wasn't thankful he had the patience to deal with my baggage.

I kissed _him_ after that and it got heated quicker than normal. "I don't know what we're doing in this house or who it belongs to, but does it have a bedroom?" Zip asked as his hands skimmed down towards the buckle of my belt.

"Three," I informed him, "but this is going to have to wait."

"Why?" He wanted to know. His lips brushed across my ear and I had to reluctantly pull away before we got naked. I checked my watch as I wiggled out of his arms. Definitely not enough time to get naked.

"One because there are no beds…"

"I don't need a bed," He interjected with a grin. "Just a space that doesn't have a giant window with no blinds." We both glanced at the bay window that looked out over the street.

"There are plenty of those and I promise we'll…_christen_ all of them at some point, but trust me – now isn't ideal."

"Hmmm. Well that is unfortunate." He rubbed his hand over the rock-hard bulge behind my zipper. _Damn it_, I should have brought him here sooner so we'd have the place to ourselves for a while. I moved away from his magical hands with a small groan.

"Later," I promised and checked my watch again. "So this house…I'm sure you have questions."

"A few. Where do you want me to start?"

"Nowhere. This should answer most of them." I pulled the deed out of the pocket inside my jacket and handed it over. He opened it slowly and I watched his eyes travel down the page. When he got to the most important part, his head shot up.

"You…you bought us a house?" I'd put both our names on the paperwork so there would be no questions about ownership if something happened to either of us.

"Yeah. I know we already live together but I wanted a place away from work where it could just be the two of us. It needs a lot of renovation and I was hoping we could do that together." I looked around the room again, picturing what it would be like when we were done. Zip latched onto my arm mid scan and yanked me against his body.

"This place is ours? Seriously?"

"Yes. Do you like it?"

His response was a brain melting kiss which was interrupted by a quiet clearing of a throat. We broke apart and turned in unison to Zoe Zabar's sparkling golden eyes. "I think he likes it," she said with a laugh.

"Mom?" Zip looked at me with that adorable confused expression. At least he knew why we didn't get naked a few minutes ago.

"Hello Zander." She kissed her son on the cheek and planted one on mine too.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Mom, but what are you doing here?"

Zoe shot me an expectant look. "I haven't told him yet," I admitted.

"Ah. Well, my dear son, Hector invited me for lunch and he's also hired me to help with the renovation on this beautiful house." Zip's Mom is an accomplished architect and also an interior decorator and I figured we'd need all the help we could get. "Which is a good thing," she continued, "or the two of you would probably just paint everything black and be done with it. Lunch is in the car and so are my sample books. Will you go get them for me?"

Zip's mouth was hanging open and then he closed it and opened it a few more times before giving up on finding something to say. He left us with a small sigh to do as his Mother requested.

"I think he was surprised," Zoe told me when Zip was out of ear shot. "This place is going to be gorgeous when you're done with it."

"I think so too," I agreed as we both scanned the room.

"Hector," she addressed me a moment later, "I have never seen my son happier in his whole life than he has been with you. Thank you for loving him so completely. I can tell how hard it is for you to let people in so I want you to know how much I appreciate you including me in the life you're building together."

She gave my arm a quick squeeze and I had to fight back a lump in my throat. What was it about this family that got me so emotional? "You both make it pretty easy, actually," I let her know and hell if that wasn't the truth. "I don't really have any family so I feel pretty lucky to be a part of yours." And I really _was_ a part of them. From the moment I met her, Zoe Zabar has treated me like one of her own even if she probably shouldn't. I love her and God knows I'm crazy about her son.

"You might think twice about that when you finally meet Zyla." I laughed along with her but I was pretty sure I could handle Zip's sister. From what he'd told me, she sounded a lot like Stephanie and if that was the case, she and I would get along just fine.

Zip ended our discussion when he came back into the house with his arms full. "Did you make your enchiladas?" He asked, holding up what looked like an insulated picnic basket.

"Of course," Zoe confirmed. "This is definitely an enchilada situation, but where are we going to eat?"

I'd taken care of that earlier, setting up a small table and chairs in the empty kitchen. As we ate her delicious food, we made plans about where to begin the renovation and went through a bunch of her sample books, picking out paint colors and granite and tile all the other small details I hadn't even thought of.

It was late when we finally said goodbye to Zoe and as soon as the door was closed I found myself in Zip's arms.

"God, Hector. You completely slay me." He nuzzled his face against my neck and continued on between the tiny kisses he was placing over my skin. "This house…I love it. I only wish it was already furnished so we could spend the night here tonight."

"Ask and you shall receive," I said cryptically. He pulled back and eyed me hopefully.

"Did you lie about there being a bed?"

"I thought you said you didn't need a bed."

He showed me is dimple. "I only need you."

"You already have me." I took his hand and led him to the staircase. He followed me up and to the master suite at the end of the long hallway. It was the only room in the house that the previous owners had renovated and I didn't really want to change a thing. The floors were done in the deep cherry wood and the walls were painted a soft yellow. The en suite bath had new travertine floors that set off the olive granite of the vanity top and I'd made sure the water was turned on so we could try out the massive enclosed glass shower.

"Hopefully this will do," I said, opening the door. "We'll have to go bed shopping later." I'd laid out a pile of blankets and set up some candles. Pretty cheesy, but I knew he'd want to spend the night.

Zip took in the room and since he seemed to be speechless, I guess I'd done okay. "I told you," he finally said with a grin after inspecting everything. "I don't need a bed."

He proved that theory many, _many_ times before the sunrise.


	8. The Rest of Our Lives

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar - mistakes are mine and many apologies for those._

This tale will now be diverging from the '_Glimpse_' timeline and is set several months after the end of the last chapter of that story.

_For Margaret and also for zicobabe_

**Warning:** The following may get excessively romantic and/or sappy. _Apologies in advance._

* * *

**The Rest of our Lives**

**Zip POV**

"You need to get it together, Zip. My wife will be pissed if I end up at the emergency room because you jabbed a needle in my eye." I knew Tank was fucking with me, but he was right, I needed to get a grip. For some reason I couldn't stop my hands from shaking.

A bullet had fortunately only grazed by his face instead of blowing his head off, but it left a gash starting at his hairline, right by his left eye, and I was attempting to stitch it closed.

I set the needle and thread on top of my case and took a breath. "Maybe I should get Bobby to do this."

Tank eyed me critically. "What's wrong with you today? I've never seen you react this way when things haven't gone exactly as planned."

I didn't know what my problem was. Besides almost getting shot again and now having to patch wounds of those who had… that never bothered me before, yet_ something_ freaked me out because my hands were trembling and I felt like I could vomit at any second. I cut my eyes away from Tank and dropped them to the ring on my finger, running my thumb over it a couple times. The familiar smooth surface always seemed to calm me a little. "I don't know what the deal is," I admitted without looking at him.

"I do," he replied and it brought my head up. He flicked his eyes briefly to the ring I was still touching and then met my curious gaze. "You have someone to go home to now. It makes things like what happened today harder to deal with."

I once again looked at the ring Hector slid on my finger six months ago. "Well shit," I mumbled, realizing he was right. We'd already had a very close call when I'd been shot a couple of years ago. Today wasn't quite on that level, but it could have gone really, _really_ wrong. I think part of it was that Hector and I still hadn't found the time to get married and I didn't want my life to end before having been married to him.

I brought my eyes back to Tank's bleeding face. "As do you, but it doesn't seem to affect _you_ at all."

"That's because I'm not a pussy," he told me with a straight face. "Now, will you finish so I can go home to my wife and kid?"

It had the desired effect of drawing a laugh from me and I was able to close the wound without puncturing his eyeball or anything else that shouldn't be stabbed.

"Speaking of, how is Jack?" I inquired as I tied off the thread. "You haven't brought him by the building in a while."

As always when someone mentioned his son, Tank's face split in a wide grin. "He's great. I think he's about to say his first word. I just hope it's not of the four letter variety or Beth might kill me."

I laughed again and wiped an alcohol pad over the neat row of stitches. "Just keep him away from Stephanie and you should be fine."

"That's true enough," he said with a deep chuckle.

"You're good to go," I told him, dropping everything into a medical waste bag.

"I knew you could do it." He slid off the retaining wall where I'd made him sit and then clamped a huge hand on my shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. "It gets easier," he added and then headed Bobby's way.

"Really?" I called after him, hope threading lightly through my voice.

"Fuck no." He grinned at me over his shoulder and I rolled my eyes behind his back while I began packing my gear.

Per Rangeman protocol, there was a debrief after the _incident _so it was really late when I finally headed home. Hector had been expecting me at six and it was nearly eight when I exited the building.

We're not overly sentimental people but today's the anniversary of the first night we spent together and he actually brought it up last week. I kept track of that kind of stuff but didn't think _he_ did so I was a little thrown off guard. His response when I asked him why he remembered that particular date made my heart flip beneath my ribs. "_It__'__s the day you changed my life."_

Hector wasn't really a verbal person, but every once in a while he let things like that fall out of his mouth and it made me all mushy. It also made me want to fuck his brains out - which I did, repeatedly.

I thought he might be planning a celebratory dinner or something for tonight because he'd been more intense than usual the past couple of days but the house was dark when I eased into the garage. It wasn't unusual, he tended to stick to one area until I got home, unlike me who wandered the whole house when he wasn't there.

I cut the engine and headed inside, flipping the light on in the kitchen as I went. The new granite on the recently restored counters shone under the lights and I smiled as I traveled through the room. We'd finally finished the last of the remodeling a few weeks ago and the house looked pretty damn good. It's where we spent most of our time now and I wanted to talk to him about giving up our apartment, but first things first. I was starving and wanted dinner but since the kitchen was spotless I guessed we must be going out to eat.

"Hec?" I called as I hit the long, curving stairway. He didn't respond and I felt a frown tugging at my lips. _Was he not home?_

**Hector POV**

"What's going on, Hector?" Stephanie entered my bedroom on a pair of three inch Christian Louboutin's and the sound of them clicking on the hardwood floors bought my head around. They were a simple black patent but the iconic red soles made them really stand out. She'd paired them perfectly with the cocktail-length dress she'd chosen to wear and I told her how great she looked.

"This is nothing," she replied, running a palm over the slightly belled skirt. "Have you taken a look at yourself? Because that suit is all manner of hot."

I flashed a grin and dropped a kiss on her cheek while she smoothed down my tie. "Ranger's guy is pretty good."

"I'd say so, since you only gave us three days notice and this thing fits you like a second skin, but you're deflecting. What's the deal? You seem almost...you aren't _nervous_, are you?"

I nearly rolled my eyes. I wasn't nervous; that particular affliction hardly ever affected me but I was..._anxious_ so I told her that. "I just want everything to be..." I almost said perfect but our lives were so far from that it was almost laughable. Although I did think Zip and I had somehow made our own version of perfect and that wasn't half bad. "Right," I concluded and Stephanie grimaced slightly. "What? _What was that face?"_

"Okay," she said, "but please remember you only gave us _three_ days to pull this together."

"Stephanie," I warned, suddenly feeling very tense.

"We got your license but Judge McArthur is on vacation in Barbados."

I ran my fingers through my hair and turned away from her, trying not to think about the sudden tightness in my chest.

"But it's alright," she assured me quickly. "Ranger has a backup but he said I had to run it by you first since you know him. _I_ said we shouldn't say anything and then you wouldn't have a choice but he insisted and...it's _Manny_," she finished on an exhale.

That brought my pacing to a halt and I spun back to face her. "What? Manny from work?"

Stephanie was nodding, making her long curls bounce on her shoulders. "Yeah, I was surprised too. Apparently he was the chaplain in Ranger's unit in the army and he recently just got re-certified or whatever it is they have to do, but at any rate he's good to go and can legally perform the ceremony. Are you okay with that? I know you wanted to keep it small and quiet..."

"I'm good with it," I let her know. And I was. It might be a little awkward, but I'm sure in the end I wouldn't really care.

"Good," she breathed a sigh of relief and dug around in her pocketbook for her phone. "I'll let Ranger know." The device rang in her hand before she could dial and she put it up to her ear. I could tell it was her husband by the smile on her face. _Did I grin like that when Zip called me?_

Her quick greeting was obviously interrupted by something serious as a frown wrinkled her forehead and her responses became short and clipped. My body tensed again for bad news.

"Yeah...Okay... Injuries? You're sure? Yes, I'll see you soon then." She disconnected and met my now worried face. "There was a problem but everyone is okay. It's going to delay things a bit but we are still good...He's fine, Hec. I promise." She squeezed my bicep and I swallowed hard at her words.

"How bad?" I wanted to know.

"Not very," she reassured me. "Only superficial stuff. It still sucks but no one got more than a few stitches. We _ar_e going to have to kill a couple of hours though."

"Zip's mom will be back with Zyla in a few minutes."

"So? You like his Mom. And did you see what she did with the backyard? It looks amazing."

She was right about that. Zoe Zabar made most of the house look amazing but she'd turned the backyard into something out of a movie for the wedding ceremony. I asked her not to go overboard but I guess she couldn't stop herself. "I do and it does," I agreed. "But this will be the first time I'm meeting his sister and I don't think I can entertain her for two whole hours."

"Relax," Steph said. "You can and you will and if you can't, that's why _I'm_ here. It's what the best man does."

I grinned at her again just as the doorbell rang. "Well, you _are_ entertaining, but you're about as far from a man as a person can get."

She gave me a tiny eye roll but then pulled me into an unexpected hug. "I love you, Hec. And I'm so happy that you finally quit avoiding the best thing that ever happened to you and that you finally realize how worthy of love you are." She didn't let me respond, which was probably a good thing, since it almost brought tears to my eyes. Instead she took my hand and led me down the stairs.

I opened the door to Zoe and her miniature copy, Zyla. Same long, blonde hair, same unbelievable golden eyes, same fucking dimple. She was just about a foot shorter than Zip and a half a foot shorter than her Mother. I wondered absently if Zoe's late husband was short.

"Oh, Hector. You look so handsome." Zoe hugged me after I ushered them inside. She was about to introduce her daughter when Zyla spoke, eyeing me up and down like she was critiquing a statue.

"So you're the famous Hector." She walked around me in a slow circle. "Well, I can see the appeal, you're kinda cute."

I don't think anyone has ever referred to me as _cute _before but I wasn't about to argue. She had a look on her face like she could chew me up and spit me out before I even saw it coming.

"You make my brother happy," she stated, coming back around to face me.

"I try to, yeah."

"Good. But before this goes any further, you should know that if you ever hurt him, _I __will kill yo_u."

_"Zyla!" _Zoe admonished but I held up a hand while Stephanie barked out a laugh.

"Understood," I said with a nod and she nodded back, an accord reached.

"We're going to get along great," Stephanie jumped in. "I had the exact same conversation with Zip when they first got together.

"My kinda girl," Zyla replied with a grin. "Now, I've just spent an hour in the car with my Mother so do you have any Grey Goose in this place?"

_"Zyla!"_

And that was _my_ kinda girl. I explained the delay while we had drinks and then Stephanie disappeared with my future sister-in-law so she could "get ready," which left me alone with Zoe while we waited for Zip to get home.

** Zip POV**

"Hector?" I called again when I hit the top of the stairs. I was retrieving my phone to call him when I heard him answer from our bedroom.

I picked up the pace, anxious to see him and felt my shoulders relax when I pushed open the door and saw him walking out of the master bath. I didn't even say hello, just pulled him into my arms and held on tight.

"Whoa," he murmured and slid his hand up to the nape of my neck, slipping his fingers in my hair as I dropped my head onto his shoulder. "You okay?"

I brushed a kiss over the tattoo on his neck and smiled at the hint of Acqua Di Gio. It was my favorite cologne on him. I inhaled another long breath before answering.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it wasn't a great day but I'm good now. Listen, I know things have been crazy lately with the house renovation and work and everything else but...can we figure out when we're gonna get married? Maybe this weekend? I just really want to be married to you before..." I trailed off as I ran my hands up and down his back, finally realizing what he was wearing.

I extracted myself from his embrace and took a step back. Hector's face was carefully blank. "Why are you in a suit?" I ran my fingers under the lapel. _Italian silk_. "Is this Armani?" Don't get me wrong, we weren't opposed to dressing up and were far from strangers to designer clothes but I could count on one hand the number of times I'd seen him in a suit and they'd all been at weddings. _Did he...were we_..."What's going on, Hec?"

He graced me with a rare full smile. "Yes, we can figure out when to get married, but I don't want to wait until the weekend so we're going to do it now. Yes it's Armani and yours is in the closet. Take a shower, get dressed, and meet me out back." He pressed his lips to my forehead and left me standing in the middle of our bedroom with my mouth hanging open in shock.

I've never showered so fast in my life and didn't really take time to admire the dark chocolate-colored suit that had obviously been tailored specifically for me as I slid into it. I did remember that Hector loved me in brown. He said it did amazing things to my eyes and a significant amount of my wardrobe catered to that.

I took one quick stop at my dresser before I left the room and when I hit the stairs I faltered for a second, thinking of my family. My mom and sister wouldn't be pleased when they found out I got married and didn't invite them - it wasn't going to stop me - but it did give me pause. I'd have to try and talk Hector into having a small party or reception soon.

I reached the sliding glass door that exited onto our deck and pushed the vertical blinds back that were covering the door. That was odd; those blinds were hardly ever closed. I slid open the door and stepped out into the deck, expecting to find Hector waiting for me but was greeted by my sister, wearing a gorgeous navy slip dress and heels that made her almost as tall as me.

"Better close your mouth before you swallow a fly," she quipped and linked her arm through mine.

_"Zy?" _

"You didn't really think I'd miss your freaking _wedding, _did you?"

"Hector..."

"Of course he did," she cut me off. "Turns out he's sorta perfect and he seems to really love your goofy ass, so I guess I approve."

It was a ringing endorsement from my sister, but I knew her better than anyone. "How many times did you threaten him?"

A slow grin tipped her mouth up at the corners but she avoided my knowing accusation "Did Mom go gaga out here, or what?" She gestured with her hand to the transformed deck and backyard and I took in the alterations. My mother did go a little nuts but it looked really good.

There were white lights wrapped around the railings of the deck with multiple strings of the same kind extending from the roof out across the yard and ending at the two large oak trees that stood regally at the fence line. I knew there were other things I should be paying attention to - like several small tables draped in black cloth with silver runners down the middle and what looked like a new bar set up by the barbecue pit and the stranger with photography equipment - but I'd set my eyes on Hector the second I saw him out by the trees, talking lowly to Steph and Ranger…and _Manny?_ And everything thing else faded into the background – including my sister who was saying something else to me I hadn't really heard. _"What?"_

"I said, give me your ring." She was holding out her hand and I only hesitated a second before sliding it off my finger. There was a slight tightening in my chest as her fist closed around it. I'd never really had it off since he'd given it to me and it felt really weird.

"It's only for a minute," my sister soothed, obviously reading me like a book. "Now, C'mon," she said, slipping her arm through mine again. "I'm giving you away."

She tugged me across the deck and headed out over the lawn. Hector's eyes found mine as we made our way to him and everything I ever needed to know, I saw on his face. He wasn't hiding anything tonight, apparently from anyone, because my sister said from beside me. "I'm really happy for you, Zander, and I hope someday I will find someone who looks at me the way you two look at each other. It's really…" She trailed off, unable to find an adequate description and I knew the feeling. I often found myself at a loss for words when he looked at me that way.

I thanked my sister and pecked her on the cheek and then Hector was taking my hand. Later I would ask why _Manny_ was officiating the ceremony, but right then I didn't care.

Steph and Ranger and my Mom and sister stood around us in a small semi-circle and Manny began what I'd been waiting for since the day I met Hector.

Manny cleared his throat and flashed a smile. "I've been informed this should be short and sweet and to quote Hector verbatim_, 'none of that 'traditional crap'_ so we're here tonight to officially join these two in matrimony and in lieu of the _usual_ vows, I will now give you the floor." He gestured to Hector and my soon to be husband lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my palm before starting.

"I think there will always be a part of me that can't believe I'm the one you chose to so generously give your heart to and I'm constantly amazed after knowing me better than anyone else in this world, you somehow still manage to love me...you are the light in the endless darkness that I will gladly follow the rest of our lives."

My heart turned over at his words and I had to choke back the rush of emotion he always seemed to bring to the surface so I could actually speak. "I knew the second I saw you I would love you and although you made it _challenging_, I was right. I've loved you since that moment and will spend the rest of our lives loving you and making sure you know you're worth it."

Hector had to swallow at that so at least I knew it wasn't just me getting overly emotional. Manny said it was time for the rings and I surprised Hector by pulling the one I'd gotten for him out of my pocket. The ceremony had been a surprise, but I've had the ring since the day after he gave me mine. I knew there was a possibility our wedding would end up being a last minute ceremony so I wanted to be prepared.

We exchanged rings, were pronounced legally hitched and then given permission to seal the deal. Hector whispered, "I love you," just before our lips touched and as always the kiss quickly spiraled into a fog of lust that made me wish we were alone.

The second surprise of the night came when I heard very loud whistling and a round of applause that was way too huge for the small group of people gathered around us. Hector and I broke apart and turned to find what looked like most of the Rangeman company crossing the lawn.

Several "Congratulations" were tossed out and I think it was Lester who exclaimed, "It's about fucking time!" and then we were overwhelmed with handshakes and pats on the back and kisses on the cheek from Steph and my Mom and sister and some of the guys' wives. Junior set up his DJ equipment on the deck and started some music while Woody and Bones manned the bar, waiters materialized from out of nowhere with trays of champagne and food and we were instantly right in the middle of a wedding reception. It was a good hour before I was able to drag Hector away for a minute of alone time so I could tell him how much all of it meant to me.

It was very cliché, but I'd yanked him into the bathroom for privacy. He almost derailed my thoughts with his wandering hands and wicked tongue and I was as hard as stone when he finally let me up for air but I managed to not rip him out of his suit while we had a whole backyard full of guests. I leaned into him, pressing him against the wall and held his piercing eyes. "This was…God Hec, I don't even know what to say, except thank you. I…it…it means everything to me that you were willing to do this and have all our friends here…you continue to surprise me and I just…"

"I know mi amor." He threaded his fingers in my hair and brought my head to his for another quick kiss. "But the party wasn't me. You'll have to thank Steph for that. I didn't even know about it until two minutes before you walked outside."

That was surprising. Steph must have been feeling brave and I was guessing my Mother had something to do with it as well. "Are you mad?"

Hector's mouth lifted at the corners. "How could I be mad when I get you for the rest of our lives?" He kissed my ring and then my neck and then my lips and I made the decision our guests would have to be on their own for a while.

_I needed to start the rest of our lives immediately. _


	9. Bad News

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar._

Thanks for all the great comments, views and follows. This story is winding down and I've had such fun sharing my favorite Merry Men with all of you.

_**Mild Smut Warning**_

* * *

It was nearly six in the morning when Zip slipped into bed behind me. He was naked and hard and pressed his lips to the spot on my neck that makes me want him to kiss me everywhere.

"Are you awake?" He whispered and then kissed that spot again.

"Almost," I replied in the same soft tone.

His tongue darted out and swept a lick over where his lips had just been, turning my cock to stone.

"How bout now?" Zip wanted to know, sliding a hand over the slope of my hip and sinking his teeth into the junction of my shoulder where it meets my throat.

Without warning, I flipped around and pinned him beneath me, clamping my mouth over his. I kissed him until he was writhing under the pressure of my body, grinding his erection against my own in an attempt to release the building pressure. I broke away and rested my forehead against his while we tried to catch our breath.

"You're definitely awake now," he said on an exhale. "How much time do we have?"

I cut my eyes to the clock next to the bed. "An hour, if I skip my run."

"These shifts suck," Zip griped, not for the first time, and I couldn't argue. Half of the Rangeman Company was out with the flu and those of us who'd managed to avoid contracting the plague were now being punished by having to work double and sometimes triple shifts. Zip and I, unfortunately, were working opposite schedules and this was the first time I'd seen him in four days.

"I know, but it should be over soon."

"I hope so. This isn't exactly how I imagined spending our first week being married."

"Me either." I skimmed my fingers down his arm and then brought his hand up to my mouth, placing a kiss over the titanium ring that had sealed our wedding vows. "We'll make up for it later," I assured him and moved my mouth from his hand to his lips and then burned a trail down his body until I was nestled between his thighs. I licked the tiny_ H_ tattoo and then I licked his cock until he was panting my name.

It didn't take me long to bring him over the edge, and then he had me on my back, giving as good as he got. I was just about to come when the doorbell rang and Zip froze with only the tip of my dick in his mouth.

_Who the fuck was at the door at six in the fucking morning?_ "Don't stop," I insisted, tunneling my hands in his hair. He took me back into the hot, wet furnace and two deep sucks later, I was spilling all I had into his throat while I held his head in place.

The doorbell rang again as he eased me out of his mouth. "What the hell?" He said pushing back until he was resting on his knees. "It better not be the fucking Jehovah's Witness again."

I rolled my eyes at that one. We'd been subjected to more than one visit from the religious group since we moved into the house. I told Zip what would get them to take us off their route but he was reluctant to tell them we were devil worshipers.

They never came this early in the morning so it had to be something else. Maybe the Mormons were giving it a shot. I rolled out of bed and slid back the panel in the wall that exposed the security monitor. I had the entire perimeter under surveillance and pulled up the camera mounted at the front door.

"Shit," I muttered at the slightly chubby guy standing on our porch in an ill-fitting suit. He was tall so he carried the extra weight well but the jacket button was straining at his stomach like it was a size too small and it looked like it might pop off any second. He ran a hand through thinning black hair and pushed the doorbell again.

"Looks like a cop," Zip said. He was at my back and staring over my shoulder at the video screen.

"Yes it does," I agreed gravely. It's never good when the police are at your door, especially if it's before the sun rises.

"Fed?"

"Maybe. Or a detective with the PD. They both wear horrible suits."

The man in question gave up on the bell and started knocking. "I don't think he's going to leave," Zip observed.

I let out a breath and reached for my clothes. "Stay here," I said as I pulled on my pants and dragged a shirt over my head. "We're not done."

I took a second to admire his ass as he crawled back into our bed before I went to find out why the cops were at my door at dawn.

Flipping on the hall light, I took the stairs at a leisurely pace, not in any hurry to hear bad news. I knew it couldn't be good this early.

I retrieved my gun from the sideboard by the front door and slipped it into my pocket, just in case, and then I cracked the door open, leaving the security chain on and demanded to see his badge.

"Hector Barillas?" He questioned, ignoring my request for identification.

"Your badge or fuck off, your choice."

The man let out a small sigh before reaching into his jacket and retrieving what I asked for. He opened the leather case and showed me his credentials through the crack in the door. "Detective Matice," he announced, "NYPD, Homicide."

There was only one reason a cop from New York would be at my door and he confirmed that a second later. "It's about your brother."

My stomach dropped, knowing without asking that Emilio was dead. Fury warred with unquestionable grief but I let the anger take over. I would grieve for my brother later, after this asshole was gone.

I slid the chain off the door and opened it a little wider. "What was it, a stabbing? A beating? Guns? Drugs?"

"You don't seem shocked by this visit."

I let out a mirthless laugh. "I know what my brother was into; I'm only surprised this didn't happen sooner."

Detective Matice took in the tear drop tattoo on my face and dropped his gaze to the old gang tattoos on my neck but wisely didn't voice the accusation of hypocrisy I saw in his eyes.

I felt Zip behind me before his hand came down on my shoulder. "What's going on? He asked quietly.

The detective cut his eyes to Zip, to the ring on the hand resting on my shoulder and then to the matching one on my finger. I waited for the question but he held his tongue, at least about that. "Do you want to do this in private?"

"No."

He let out another sigh and I had the urge to squeeze his throat so he could never make that sound again. Zip dug his fingers into the muscles of my shoulder as if warning me not to act on the silent impulse.

"May I come in?" There was a hint of frustration in his tone and I was of the mind to keep him on the porch. I didn't need him inside my house to tell me my brother had been murdered.

Zip took the choice away from me by pulling the door all the way open and tugging me out of the threshold so the detective could enter our foyer.

When he was fully inside, Zip closed the door and we stood staring at each other for a few beats. I knew he was waiting to be asked into the living room or kitchen and was probably hoping we would offer him coffee and a doughnut. I kept my mouth shut, and thankfully, so did Zip.

"You want to do this here?" The detective finally asked and I lifted a shoulder.

"You can tell me Emilio is dead here as well as anywhere else."

I felt Zip's eyes on the side of my face but I held Matice's wary gaze. He let out a breath of resignation before retrieving a note book from his pocket, flipping it open and reciting the facts from the pages. "Just after 11 p.m., NYPD officers responded to a call of shots fired at 2812 Hart Avenue, apartment 4, New York City."

I was mildly surprised that was still my brother's address. He tended to move around a lot and that had been his home the last time I'd seen him several years ago.

"Officers arrived on scene and found your brother in his living room. He'd been shot twice, execution style."

My stomach twisted into a knot and a rush of bile surged to my throat. _Dammit Emilio._

Zip was suddenly at my side. He didn't touch me but his presence settled some of the tension coiling in my veins.

He paused and consulted his notes. "Paramedics pronounced him DOA and took his body to the city morgue. Since his daughter is too young, you are listed as next of kin and we'll need you to come into the city to officially ID the body."

My brain had stalled on one word and I was shocked my voice actually worked when I said, "Daughter?"

The detective briefly lifted his eyes from the notepad before glancing back down at the paper. "Grace Elena Barillas, age 13 months."

I looked at Zip, completely at a loss for words. _Emilio had a kid? _

"What about the child's mother?" Zip asked and I was grateful, since I could no longer speak.

He once again lifted his eyes from his notes and bounced them between Zip and I before dropping his gaze. He was clearly surprised I seemed to have no knowledge of my niece. "Dead," he replied, flipping a page. "Six months ago. Drive by shooting...when was the last time you saw your brother?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and shot Zip a desperate glance. "It's been a long time, Detective," Zip answered for me. "Almost four years, I think." He looked at me for confirmation and I gave him a small nod.

Detective Matice slowly closed his notebook and returned it to the pocket inside his jacket. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you don't know you're named as guardian to your niece in the event of your brother's death."

I slowly shook my head, completely undone by the news. His hand slipped inside his pocket and he pulled out a crisp white business card. He held if out in front of him but I couldn't make my arms work. Zip took it from his outstretched hand and held it in his palm without looking at it. "She's currently in the custody of social services. They will be contacting you soon to arrange a meeting to determine what happens with the girl. Melissa Campano is your contact," he said pointing to the card in Zip's hand.

Neither Zip nor I had any response to that announcement and I could tell we were making him uncomfortable. "Look," he finally said, "I'm sorry for your loss and I know this must be difficult for you but I am the lead detective on your brother's case and would really like to catch the person or persons responsible and bring them to justice. Any help you can offer would be appreciated... If you know of anyone who wanted to harm him, names of any enemies he might have had. _Gang members_ he may have angered…even the littlest thing could turn out to be something important."

My brother could and _did_ have a whole list of people who wanted him dead but there was no way I could come up with any information right now.

"Can we do this later?" Zip asked and it made me want to hug him in gratitude. "I think we need some time to process everything that's happened." It was a diplomatic dismissal and fortunately the detective took it in stride.

"Yeah, okay," he said, cutting his eyes to me briefly. "Here is my card." He retrieved another card from his other pocket and I watched Zip take it in silence. "Call when you are ready to talk...but the sooner the better."

I stood where I was as Zip opened the door and ushered the cop outside, closing and bolting it behind him. After he slid the security chain back in place he turned to me and gathered me into his embrace.

I wrapped my arms around him, dropped my head onto his shoulder and let the tears come.


	10. An Unexpected Life - Zip

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar_

Thank you to everyone for your infinite patience in waiting for an update. I didn't intend to let so much time pass but real life got in the way. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Hector had come a long way since we first got together and I knew he shared more of himself with me than anyone, even Stephanie, yet as I felt his body tense while I held him close I feared this tragedy would set him back a few thousand steps.

He was allowing me to hold him for a minute while he let a few tears escape for the loss of his brother but I could tell he was getting ready to bolt. He would run and not let me help carry the burden of grief filling his heart.

As predicted, he pulled out of my arms and put unwanted distance between us. "I have to get out of here." His voice was thick with emotion and he swiped at his eyes in anger, for his brother or for the loss of control, I wasn't sure.

I knew there wasn't anything to say that would get him to stay but I tried anyway.

"Hector, don't do this. Let me..." I didn't know what but there had to be _something_. He had the potential to do very dangerous things in his current state of mind and I wanted to prevent anything I knew he'd spend the rest of his life regretting. He was still trying to come to terms with what happened after his sister and didn't need anything else hindering that uphill battle.

"I need to run," he said. Although he was retrieving his running shoes out of the basket by the front door, I knew he meant more than the literal action. He pushed his feet into the shoes and tied them quickly.

When he reached for the door I latched onto his arm and pulled him against my body. "Please stay with me." I knew he wouldn't but I had to try. What I didn't expect was the gentle kiss and the softly spoken promise.

"I'll be back. I need some time, but I'll be back." He brushed his palm against my cheek and then he was gone. I watched him run at a bruising pace until he disappeared out of our neighborhood and then I did the only thing I could think of.

I called Stephanie.

She and Ranger had also somehow avoided the flu plaguing half the Rangeman crew and I knew the two of them had been working just as much as Hector and I to cover shifts so was surprised when they both showed up at my door twenty minutes later.

"Who is working today if we're all here?" I wanted to know as I ushered them inside and to the kitchen.

"Bobby and Tank are back, they're not at hundred percent, but good enough to cover. Lester and Ram too," Ranger replied.

"Well, this sucks," Steph said, getting right to the point while I made coffee. "I knew we should have made you go on your honeymoon instead of staying here."

Ranger laid a hand on her shoulder. "It wouldn't have stopped this from happening, Babe." He met my eyes and then got to the point himself. "How worried are you?"

I poured Stephanie a cup and slid Ranger some tea. She lifted it to her lips and took a sip before asking, "Yeah, how bad was it when he left?"

I cradled my own cup in my palms and bounced my eyes between the two of them across the breakfast bar. "Do you know what happened after his sister?"

Stephanie crinkled her eyes in confusion and Ranger let out a slow breath, which told me he knew everything, and set down his mug of tea. "Things are different now. He's not that person anymore."

I agreed, to a point, but that part of Hector would always be there. It was buried deep now, but still there.

"Do I want to know what you're talking about?" Stephanie asked with concern.

"No," Ranger and I answered in unison.

Steph knew Hector had a past, a bad one, but I was really glad she didn't know about that particular event. From the expression on Ranger's face, he was too.

"Okaaay," she said slowly. "Obviously it's..._horrible_, so what can we do to keep it from happening again?"

I shared a look with Ranger. I think we both knew if he went completely dark, there wasn't anything anyone could do. "Does he think it was gang related?" He asked me and I nodded.

"I think so. He's only talked to me about his brother a couple of times but that was the impression I got of the situation."

"Shit," Stephanie muttered and I had to agree.

Ranger ran a hand through his hair, the only sign of tension he'd yet to express. "I can reach out to some contacts and see if there's any chatter about what went down. We might be able to get ahead of it if anyone's talking. What do you want to do here? I can put a couple of men on trying to pin down his location but you know as well as I do if Hector doesn't want to be found, we won't find him."

And that was the truth. I had to hope he would do as he said and come back but half of me wanted to be out there, combing the streets, even knowing it would be complete blind luck if I found him. "He said he needed time and he'd be back so I really don't know. I think we should probably just wait but..."

"But that's torture," Stephanie surmised.

"Yeah."

Ranger checked his watch. "How long has he been gone? A half an hour?"

"Just about."

"Let's give him another hour. If he's not back, we'll work on a plan to start searching. I'm gonna make a few calls and see what I can learn." He kissed his wife softly on the mouth and then disappeared out the back door for privacy.

I watched him go and tried to quell the rush of anxiety filling my stomach. "Hey," Steph said sharply, bringing my head up. "He'll get through this."

I nodded and lifted my cup to my mouth for a sip of the rapidly cooling liquid. "There's more to the story," I told her, having not got through the whole thing when I'd called. She gave me double raised eyebrows and I explained about Emilio's daughter.

_"Holy crap,"_ Stephanie whispered and sank next to me onto an empty barstool. "And she's with child services right now?"

"Yep. I don't know what's going to happen there, but I think if Hector doesn't take her she'll end up in foster care."

"Wow. That's...have you...have the two of you talked about having kids?"

I snorted out a sardonic laugh. "Are you kidding? We've only been married a week. We haven't even talked about getting a joint checking account."

"What if he wants to keep her? Are you going to be okay with that?"

That was a good question and one I wasn't sure I could answer. Truthfully I'd never really thought about it before. Steph seemed worried that I might leave him or something if he kept the kid. "I don't know, but I'm in this, Steph. With him, _always_. Okay?"

She let out a breath and squeezed my shoulder. "I know, I just...you know how I get about him."

"I do know and he's lucky he has you."

"He's lucky he has _you_," she countered.

"I'm lucky I have both of you." And there he was, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a light sheen of sweat covering his face and neck from the punishing run. Relief thundered through my blood at the sight of him and I had to stop myself from dragging him into my arms.

"Hec..." Steph was interrupted by Ranger returning to the room from the back deck, drawing Hector's attention. They nodded at each other as Ranger slid his phone into his pocket.

Steph and her husband expressed their condolences and Hector thanked them quietly before saying he'd contacted detective Matice and set an appointment for later this afternoon.

"But first, I have to identify the body."

_"Oh Hector,"_ Stephanie breathed. "Do you want us to come with you?" He cut his eyes to me and I nodded once with my approval. The more the better as far as I was concerned. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Hector needed the support.

"I need to get cleaned up," he said. "Maybe we can leave in an hour?"

"Whatever you need," Ranger offered. "We'll be here."

I followed Hector up our long, curving stairway and down the hall to the master bedroom. I didn't care if he didn't want me with him; I wasn't letting him out of my sight. As we entered our room, he spun around and grabbed my hand. Rubbing his thumb over my ring, he met my eyes and my heart broke at the sadness swimming in his. "I realized while I was out there that you're...you're the only family I have left." I bit back a sob and pulled him into my arms. It wasn't a good time to bring up the niece he didn't know existed before today but I did know quite a few people who would protest that statement.

"I know of a Mother and a sister who would strongly disagree with you and I'm pretty sure there is a blue-eyed, curly-haired woman right downstairs who would kick your ass if she heard you say that...probably her badass husband too." Not to mention a whole building full of men who had our backs on a daily basis. "It takes more than blood to make a family, Hec."

He pulled back and looked at me. "You're right. I don't know how I got lucky enough to have all of you love me, but I'm grateful." He dropped his head to my shoulder and kissed my neck before pulling me into the bathroom.

We showered and dressed and then with Ranger at the wheel, headed into New York.

The office of the medical examiner was first on the agenda. No one should ever have to do this, but here we were. Ranger and Steph waited in the lobby while Hector and I were led into a drab office and introduced to a grief counselor on staff. I knew from going with my Mom when my own brother was killed that identifying a body is not at all like it is on TV or in the movies. There's no dramatic drawing back of a curtain or sheet to reveal the body in question, it's all done by photograph in an office and most of the time it's just a formality as the person making the identification is usually sure at that point the deceased is a relative or friend.

The counselor expressed his condolences and walked us through what would happen, explaining the picture in detail, letting us know if we'd see marks or any trauma on the face. When he was done, he handed Hector a clipboard with the picture attached face down and told him he could take as long as he needed and that he would remain with us if we needed anything.

Hector held my hand and stared at the back of the photo for several long minutes before he eventually turned it over. I was expecting some sort of reaction, but I didn't know it would come from me and not him. I gasped at the image on the picture and then I couldn't seem to get enough air into my lungs. I bolted up from the hard metal chair and ran from the room.

He found me in the men's room a few minutes later, throwing up all the coffee I'd consumed that morning. When there was nothing left to purge, he helped me to my feet and gently wiped my face with a wet paper towel. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have...I wasn't thinking."

I took the towel from him and tossed it in the trash. "You were twins? _Jesus_, Hector." I ran a hand through my hair and wasn't surprised to find it slightly shaky. I was being irrational, I knew, because he was standing in front of me, very much alive, but the photo of his dead twin had been a shock and took me to a dark place.

"I'm sorry," he said again, shaking his head. I pulled him into my arms and held on, the warmth of his body seeping into mine, which had gone indescribably cold.

"Okay," I murmured into his hair. "It's okay. Are we done here? I'm ready to be done here."

We left a few minutes later with Ranger driving again and went to talk to detective Matice. I stayed outside with Stephanie while Hector and Ranger went in, not wanting to deal with any more surprises.

They weren't in there long and I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. When we were back in the car, I asked what was next, even though I knew. "Child services," Hector answered. "Matice called ahead, they're expecting us."

Ranger met Hector's eyes in the rear view mirror and with a nod, pulled out into traffic. When we arrived at the building, Stephanie and Ranger vaguely said they had something they had to do but would be back soon to meet us. I found it odd they were leaving since they'd come to support Hector, but he squeezed my hand when I opened my mouth to say something so I clamped it shut again.

We were led to the office of Ms. Melissa Campano and she greeted us with a warm handshake and a small smile. Her straight hair was the color of carrots and she'd tied it back from her face into a tight ponytail, accentuating her rounded cheekbones. The green of her eyes reminded me of the sage growing freely in my mother's yard...and why the hell was I thinking about that?

"Have a seat gentlemen." She indicated the chairs in front of her desk and Hector and I lowered into them.

Flipping open a file, she skimmed though some notes and then lifted her eyes back to ours. "You were recently married?"

How she had that info already was puzzling but Hector answered in the positive. "Good, that will help."

"With what?" I blurted out without thinking.

Ms. Campano didn't seem fazed by it. "With a judge approving the guardianship indicated in Mr. Barillas' will."

"Wait, I thought it was a given if it's in a will," I shot back.

"Most of the time the wishes of the deceased are always honored if they are indicated but in the case of child custody, a judge makes the final determination after reviewing the file and interviewing the named guardian."

"And what if..."

"What if I don't want custody," Hector finished the thought I hadn't meant to voice.

Ms. Campano closed the file folder and pressed her lips together in a tight line before responding.

"If the appointed guardian is unable or _unwilling_ to take over custody and care of the child, he or she would go into foster care and hopefully be adopted out...is that what we're looking at here, Mr. Barillas?"

Hector was silent under the scrutiny of the social worker so I took his hand and squeezed tightly. We hadn't talked about it but I wanted him to know I was with him no matter what decision he made.

"I don't...I don't know." He speared his fingers through his hair and let out a short breath. "I didn't even know she existed until this morning, let alone that I was named guardian...I can't..." He trailed off and Ms. Campano gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sure it's scary and overwhelming, but nothing has to be decided right now. Why don't we go meet her, then we can talk about it some more. Come with me." She moved out from behind her desk and gestured for us to follow.

We headed down a short corridor and then the woman was opening a door through which we also followed. The area seemed to be one giant play room filled with brightly colored toys of every shape and size and what looked like dozens of children.

"There." Ms. Campano pointed to a woman in the corner of the room holding what had to be the most beautiful little girl I'd ever seen. She was outfitted in a dark pink dress that had little animals on it and her longish black hair was being held off her face by a headband the same color as the dress...but it was her eyes that got to me. They were Hector's through and through. A deep chestnut, the color of well-aged whiskey, framed by the longest, darkest lashes which brushed her cheeks every time she blinked. She also had his nose and his chin, but those eyes. _Christ._

Hector inhaled sharply beside me and I cut my gaze to his face. It made sense, as he as Emilio were twins but I could tell the resemblance was a shock for him too. "Hec," I started and squeezed his fingers with mine but he shook his head.

And then everything seemed to slip into slow motion when the little girl turned her head in our direction. Her entire face lit up and she began wiggling in her caretaker's embrace. "Papa!" She called, and stretched her chubby little arms towards Hector.

_Holy crap_, she thought he was her Dad. Hector looked at me, eyes filled with panic as the woman holding her headed our way. Before either of us could say anything, Grace Elena Barillas was launching herself into her uncle's arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. Hector's hands came around her, holding her close as his eyes filled with unshed tears. A few beats went by before he started shaking his head. "I can't...I can't do this." He extracted his niece and thrust her back to the woman who'd brought her over.

The poor little girl started crying as Hector fled the room and I asked Ms. Campano to give us a minute before chasing after my husband.

I found him outside, pacing the sidewalk, his whole body vibrating with tension, and he flinched when I circled my fingers around his bicep, not aware I'd even come outside. "Hector...c'mon, let's go sit." I motioned to a line of benches surrounding a small courtyard on the side of the building.

He let me tug him down onto a bench and wrap my arm around his shoulder. "We'll figure this out," I insisted and pulled him closer. "Either way we'll figure it out."

"I can't," he said again. "I can't do this to you."

Wait, what? "What are you talking about?"

"We just got married, Zip. I can't ask this of you. We haven't even had a discussion about starting a family, this is too much...and we don't know the first thing about raising a kid, and a girl on top it. _Fuck_. This will change _everything_."

So I was what he was worried about? _God, I love him._ "Look," I started, "I get it, it's a huge responsibility and, yes, a life changing decision but I'm all in, remember?" I touched his wedding band, gliding my finger over the smooth titanium. "Always." I'd had the inscription done the day I bought the ring. _My heart, my love, my life - for you, always._

He buried his face in my neck and kissed me there. "I don't deserve you," he mumbled against my skin. "I don't fucking deserve you."

"Hey, you're going to have to cool it with that word if there's gonna be a kid in the house."

I felt his smile before the laughter sounded. "It's Stephanie we'll have to worry about."

"What the hell did _I_ do?" A familiar voice questioned. "We haven't even been here so I couldn't have done anything."

We looked up and found Steph and Ranger standing in front of us. In her hands was a black carseat that looked just about the right size for a one-year-old. "Just in case," she said with a shrug at our raised eyebrows.

"I..." Hector stalled for a beat. "We're still talking it through." He cut his eyes to me but I knew the decision was already made. There was no way we were leaving that kid here. I knew the second she'd been placed in his arms. "Like, what the hell do we do with her when we're working?"

"I can help with that," Ranger announced as he and Steph settled beside us on the bench.

"What?" I asked. "How?"

Stephanie was smiling, obviously in on the secret.

"Rangeman is opening up a daycare facility at the Trenton branch next month." He continued on at our shocked and silent faces. "With Lester's brood, Tank's kid and now Bobby with one on the way, it just makes sense. We're renovating two of the conference rooms on the 2nd floor, the license should be finalized in the next two weeks and I'm sure we can help out with babysitting until it's up and running...you know Ella's gonna go nuts - _finally a girl._"

"Not to mention my Mother," I chimed in and suddenly the thought of becoming instant parents didn't seem an insurmountable obstacle. Still scary as hell, but we'd have help, a lot of it.

Hector looked at all of us, his never ending support team, took Stephanie's hand and then kissed me before saying, "Let's go get our daughter."


	11. New Adventures - Hector

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar. All mistakes are mine_

So this is the end, for now, for these two. I have had such joy writing them and knowing all of you have enjoyed reading about them was the icing on the cake. Thank you for every read, favorite and follow, and most of all for those of you who took the time to leave a review. You are the main reason I kept this going! I do believe I will miss them greatly, so I'm sure I will be dropping in from time to time with an update on their life. Thank you again to everyone for joining me on this journey with these two amazing men.

* * *

I hadn't shaved in close to a week but as I stared into the mirror above the sink the only thing I could see on my face was the tiny teardrop tattoo under my eye. It wasn't like I didn't know it was there but I was so far from the man I was when I'd had it done that it sometimes caught me off guard when I took the time to look at myself.

I'd been thinking about it for a while, even before Gracie became a part of our lives, but the longer we had her the more it bothered me. I dreaded the day she asked about it…or some of the other ink on my body and decided maybe it was time to make some changes.

When I reached for the straight razor and shaving cream waiting on the counter, Zip's warm hands slid around my waist from behind and he pulled me back against his bare chest, dropping his lips to my neck. "She's finally asleep," he murmured against my skin, in between kisses that were making my lower anatomy stand up and pay attention.

Our daughter was having a rough time sleeping at night so when we were finally able to get her down, it seemed like a small miracle. "If we're really, _really_ quiet, maybe she'll stay down long enough for…" he trailed off and let the dipping of his fingers beneath the towel secured around my hips finish the thought.

He took me in hand, beginning a slow stroke, and my head dropped back against his shoulder as my cock swelled in appreciation. "It's been too long," he whispered before trailing his tongue up the side of my neck. He was right; it had been _way_ too long. Having a kid made finding time to be intimate challenging. Since we were used to fucking when and wherever we wanted, it was a little frustrating.

I couldn't stop the moan as his thumb drifted over the sensitive slit and he sunk his teeth into the spot just below my ear. "_Shhh," _Zip reminded so I turned in his arms, dislodging his grip and took his lips in a hungry kiss, silencing us both. He worked on the knot holding the towel in place, letting it fall to the tile floor when it was undone and dug his fingers into my ass while I continued the assault on his mouth.

The hard length of him was pressing into my abdomen and I worked my hand between our bodies and into the elastic waistband of the sweats he was wearing. Mr. '_we have to be quiet__' _let out his own soft moan when my fingers closed around him but I swallowed the sound with another deliberate kiss. It would be over quickly at this pace though I didn't think either of us cared at the moment. I inched his pants down over his hips and then my goddamn cell phone starting vibrating in its charger right next to the baby monitor on the counter.

Zip pulled back and swore under his breath while he cut his eyes to the phone. "It's Ranger."

"I'm..."

"Don't." He cut off my apology and shook his head. "But we need some uninterrupted alone time, Hec. _Soon_."

"I know," I agreed and brushed my lips across his before snatching the phone from its cradle. If it was anyone else I would have ignored it, but Ranger never called unless it was important.

"I'm outside," he announced after my greeting. "I didn't want to ring the bell in case Grace is asleep."

"She is, so thanks. I'll be down in a minute."

I killed the line and dropped my phone on the counter.

"He's here?" Zip queried with a lifted brow.

"Yeah."

"That can't be good."

"It usually isn't," I concurred and went in search of clothes.

"Do you want me to come down with you?" Zip followed me into our walk-in-closet and watched me get dressed.

"No, you better stay up here in case the little hater of sleep wakes up."

He smiled at that and also added an eye roll as I pulled a black t-shirt over my head and zipped my pants.

"Hopefully this will be quick," I added and then yanked him to me by the drawstrings dangling at his belly button, kissing him until I felt him stir beneath the sweats again.

"_Please let it be quick," _I heard him beg as I left him in the closet with half a hard-on.

I poked my head through the doorway of Grace's bedroom before heading downstairs but thankfully she was still out.

When I got to the front door I deactivated the alarm and then hit the button to disengage the floor bolt before flipping the lock and sliding off the security chain. It might be overkill but after what happened to my brother, I'd added extra security to all the doors and windows, not willing to take any unnecessary chances with my family's safety.

Ranger was waiting on the porch when I finally got the door open. He was dressed all in black and if not for the yellow file folder in his hand he would have blended seamlessly into the night landscape.

"Sorry for the intrusion," he apologized quietly when I invited him inside, "but I didn't think this should wait."

"Don't worry about it. Can I get you anything?" I asked as he followed me into the kitchen.

"I'm good, thanks." I grabbed a bottle of water and then sat across from him at the little two-person table Zip's Mother had insisted we needed in the breakfast nook.

Ranger slid the folder across the top. "As requested," he said.

My stomach clenched into a tight ball as I stared down at it, realizing what I would discover if I opened it. I'd asked him to find out, positive I wanted to know, but now that I was faced with that knowledge, I didn't think I wanted to anymore. Before Zip….before _Gracie__,_ I would have done it myself, and probably not thought twice but now….everything was different now. _I_ was different and it was time to take another path.

I lifted my eyes and met Ranger's dark, unreadable expression. "I'm with you," he told me, "whatever you choose."

I nodded once and with one more look at the folder, I slid it back to him. He searched my face for a beat, making sure I didn't have any doubts before he rested his hand on top of it. "There may be a chance they'll come looking for you."

I knew it was a possibility but hearing him voice that fear out loud brought an unexpected tightness to my chest. "Is that why you have a man on the house?" Ranger knew I'd notice the security detail, even though they'd been pretty good about staying out of sight, and a small smile touched his lips.

"That order was given by my wife, actually, but I agreed. I'm leaving it, at least for a while so no arguments."

"I wasn't going to," I admitted. "It's..._reassuring_ and I've also taken some extra precautions by adding more cameras around the property and setting some traps in the back. There are floor bolts on every door and they finished installing the bulletproof glass on the windows last week."

He nodded his approval and then tapped a finger against the unopened folder. "There's enough in here for a conviction...but that might spurn retaliation if they found out who provided the Intel."

I had no doubt Ranger covered his tracks but if I wasn't willing to risk potential harm to my own family, I certainly wouldn't with his either. "Let it lie...for now."

I wanted my brother's killer to pay for what he'd done, but it was time for the cycle of bloodshed to stop. Revenge couldn't be a part of my life anymore, not when I had two people upstairs who needed me to be around.

However, if they ever even _attempted_ to get to my family, I'd kill every last one of them.

Ranger searched my eyes one more time before rolling the folder and tucking it into the inside pocket of his jacket. "I did bring some good news," he said after a few beats, putting the previous discussion unceremoniously to rest.

"Oh?"

"The daycare license has finally been approved. It's officially open as of tomorrow. Ella, in particular, is looking forward to a certain little girl's presence." It was supposed to have been operational almost two months ago but had been held up by some bureaucratic red tape for longer than anyone anticipated.

"That _is_ good news. We'll bring her in the morning."

"Good, and based on the dark circles under your eyes, I'm guessing she's still not sleeping much? You should talk to my Mother; she claims to have lots of tricks to get babies to sleep and to stay there."

I was just about desperate enough to try anything. "I'll keep that in mind," I said with a small smile.

"I'll let myself out," he offered and stood from the table. On his way by, he paused briefly and squeezed my shoulder. Ranger didn't often express emotion, except around Steph, but for him, that small gesture spoke volumes. He was proud of my choice... and proud of me.

And yet I knew he would have fought by my side if I'd made the opposite decision.

After he left I spent several minutes re-securing the house, making sure all the locks were engaged and all the blinds were closed before setting the alarm and climbing the stairs. I moved slowly past Gracie's room, gliding my sock-covered feet across the hardwood instead of taking actual steps. _Anything to keep as quiet as possible._

When I pushed open my bedroom door I discovered Zip sprawled out on his back across our California King. Unfortunately, he hadn't removed his sweat pants _and_ he was fast asleep. I really wanted to wake him and pick up where we left off but we were slowly learning it was best to sleep whenever we could because we never knew when our rest would be disturbed.

Silently, I stripped down to my boxer briefs and clicked off the bedside lamp before crawling in beside him. He had one arm draped across his chiseled abs and the other bent at the elbow with his hand tucked behind his head so I settled on that side and kissed his chest before laying my head against it and closing my eyes.

We slept two whole hours before the tinny sound of a baby crying began to emanate from the monitor on the nightstand.

*#*#*#*#*#

I was never more aware of the age difference between Zip and I than when we weren't getting enough sleep. How much or how little we got didn't seem to be an issue; he always appeared bright-eyed and energized no matter the time of morning. I, on the other hand, looked and felt like I'd just woken up from a two day bender that involved a lot of physical activity and a shit ton of alcohol.

My energetic husband was currently entertaining our daughter by blowing raspberries on her belly and then tossing her into the air and catching her before doing it all over again. I was slouched by the coffee pot, willing it to brew faster, and thoroughly enjoying the show. It was sexy as hell watching him bond so quickly with the little girl who'd instantly had us both wrapped around her finger.

"Are you ready for your first day at Rangeman, Gracie?" He asked and blew on her stomach again. She giggled with delight and up in the air she went. Even my sleep deprived brain couldn't ignore how fucking adorable they were.

The coffee was finally done and I filled my cup. Zip snatched it from me before I even got a sip and placed Grace in my arms. "I have to go," he said and took a drink of my caffeine. "I wish I could go with you to drop her off but Zero and I have to be in Newark by nine." He set the mug down and kissed me once before also kissing Grace on the cheek. "I'll see both of you later."

And then he was out the door, leaving me to the morning ritual of a bath and trying to get her to eat something without splattering it on every surface. During that time I was keenly aware of why I had never had kids before. The whole experience has been _challenging_, and I probably couldn't have handled it without a ton of help.

We brought her home that same day we met her. I don't think it was supposed to happen so fast and I'm pretty sure Ranger called in more than one favor to get it done, but we were allowed to take her and last week we started the paperwork to legally adopt her. It was an unusual way to start a family, but she was _ours_ now and I wasn't going to have it any other way.

I had a brief freak out on the way home from New York that day, realizing our house was not equipped for a kid, yet once again, Ranger and Stephanie came to the rescue. Not only did they arrive with the car seat, but while they were gone they'd apparently called everyone we know into action because by the time we got home, the spare room in the house had been converted into a little girl's room, complete with a crib, a dresser and closet filled with clothes, toys and stuffed animals, diapers and all the other millions of things kids need.

I had no clue babies required that much _stuff. _And I'm not gonna lie, some days I felt completely overwhelmed and unequipped to handle it_. _It's a good thing I'm lucky enough to have Zip at my side through all of it. Not to mention his Mom and sister and also the entire clan at Rangeman seemed to have embraced Gracie as one of their own.

The whole lot of us have denied the traditional convention of what a family is _supposed_ to be and created something amazing and unique and I couldn't be happier.

Well, maybe if I could get more than two hours of sleep at a time...

I somehow got both of us fed and clothed and buckled Grace into her car seat before heading off to daycare. It was my day off, so I didn't really need to take her, but I wanted to get her used to it...and maybe be able to take a nap.

When we got inside the building and headed to the second floor, we ran into Lester, who I assumed was dropping off his own kids. "Hey, there's my future daughter-in-law!" He stopped and tickled Grace's cheek and I lifted a brow.

"Excuse me?"

He flashed me a grin. "After you guys left last week Cougar turned to me and said, "I'm gonna marry that girl." And that was the last time she was going to spend time with the mini-playboy. Make that _playboys_; the twins were probably just as bad.

"No way is my daughter marrying a Santos. Over my dead body." Best to get that fact straight immediately.

Lester eyed me somberly. "The heart wants what the heart wants, Hector."

"Can it, Santos. If she's marrying anyone, it's going to be Jackson so your boys are out of luck." Tank's imposing bulk came around the corner and I felt a migraine starting. I knew they were joking but I was flashing on what it was going to be like when she was old enough to date. _Holy Christ._

"Leave the poor man alone." _Thank God for Ella. "_Go on, shoo." She waved them off. "There are freshly made muffins in the kitchen."

"You're the best, Ella," Lester exclaimed before he kissed her cheek and then Grace's. Tank followed suit and then they went in search of muffins. I was sure that's where I'd find Stephanie later too.

"Oh, mijo," Ella said to me softly and brushed her fingers across the dark bruises under my eye. "When was the last time you slept for more than an hour?"

"That bad, huh?"

She gave a little shrug and lifted Grace from my arms. "Let's get her settled in and then you can get some rest...actually why don't Luis and I keep her tonight? You need at least eight hours straight." She cut her eyes to me while we headed down the hall. "Maybe twelve would be better."

"Thanks a lot," I grumbled. I must look worse than I thought.

Ella laughed. "Don't worry, it will get better. Do you want to leave her with us, at least for tonight?" I almost said no. We hadn't left her with anyone overnight yet, not wanting to disrupt her routine, but she was right, I needed sleep. And I needed some time with Zip.

"That would be great, Ella. Thank you and Zip will thank you too."

"I bet," she said with a wink and swung open the door to the new Rangeman daycare. I didn't know much about childcare facilities but this one seemed to have all the stuff, including the Santos playboys and Tank's son, Jackson. Who I didn't expect was Bobby's wife, Camille. She was about five months into her pregnancy and really starting to show.

I greeted her with a hug and asked if she was checking out the scene for their future kid. Another boy, I'm told, and another potential suitor for Grace, apparently.

"Yes and no," she said with her deep throaty laugh. "I'm actually going to be working here, at least until I'm too big to be able to handle this lot." She gestured to the kids with a sweep of her hand.

"And my niece will be here full time too." Ella pointed to the young woman currently chasing after Logan Santos. Or maybe Luke, I couldn't tell them apart. I'd met Ella's niece from time to time over the years, I think her name was Nadia. "And of course me when I have time between my other duties." I felt relieved Ranger hadn't gone outside the family to staff the daycare. It made it a lot less stressful to leave Grace when I knew and was comfortable with the people caring for her.

I stayed for a while, hoping she wouldn't throw a fit when I left, as I'd heard some kids do, but apparently I'd been worried for nothing. She seemed at ease and was happily playing with Jackson when I eventually left. I made arrangements with Ella to pick Gracie up the following afternoon and then went to locate Stephanie.

Devouring a blueberry muffin in the kitchen is where I found her ten minutes later. She wrapped me in a hug and then pulled me down into a chair next to her so she could finish her breakfast. "I promised Ranger I'd only have one," she told me with an eye roll. "So how was it? Are you having separation anxiety already?"

"Funny. And how many muffins is that, two or three?"

Stephanie laughed and stuffed in another bite. "You're off today, right?" She asked after swallowing the mouthful.

"Yep."

"Me too. Want to go shopping?"

"You know I do, but honestly, I really need to sleep. Rain check?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "You _are_ looking a little exhausted. Gracie's still not sleeping, huh?"

"Not more than a couple hours. Everyone tells me it's normal."

Steph shrugged. "I wouldn't have a clue. Do you think part of it is being thrust into a new environment?"

I did think that. I also thought she was starting to figure out that I wasn't her real Dad. Most of the time she got excited when she saw me, called me Papá all the time - one of three words we discovered she knew - but every once in a while she recoiled a little bit when I reached for her. I'm sure I smelled different and sounded different than Emilio and it was probably confusing as hell for her. Zip and I keep talking about when we should start trying to explain the situation; luckily she's way too young right now to comprehend any of it.

"I'm sure that's some of it," I agreed.

"Listen, before you head out, come to my office, I have something for you." I followed her down the hall and to the corner office she'd commandeered when Ranger deemed she needed her own space. Stephanie had taken over the processing of all new clients when she quit working for her cousin and started at Rangeman full-time. She seemed to like it and Tank was grateful for one more thing he didn't have to handle. Although she did still go out in the field a least a couple times a week so, as she put it, she didn't go crazy sitting behind a desk.

She settled herself behind said desk and I fell into the chair positioned in front of it. Opening a drawer, she pulled out an envelope and tossed it towards me across the top. Curious, I picked it up and peeked inside. When I saw the contents, I lifted my head and found her grinning at me.

"Don't argue," she commanded immediately. "You never got one and you need it. You're going. I've already worked out a schedule with Zip's mom and Ella to look after Gracie while you're gone."

I wanted to say no. She and Ranger had already done so much for us, but Stephanie was probably more stubborn than I was so denying her would be an exercise in futility. Plus, if I did she'd tell Ranger and he would make us, even in he had to tie us up and drag us there himself.

"One condition," I said instead and she lifted an eyebrow in response. "We go shopping tomorrow and you help me pick out new swim trunks."

"For Zip too?"

"Obviously," I agreed.

"Deal," she said and then her face got serious for a second. "I love you, Hec. You know that, right?"

"Ditto, Chica," I responded with a grin of my own.

"Good, now get the hell out of my office and go home and sleep."

After a few errands I hadn't had time for lately and a trip to the grocery store, I did as instructed, and when I woke up from a nap that seemed entirely too short, I headed to the kitchen and got out a bottle of tequila to make a batch of margaritas and started cooking. Since it was Zip's favorite, I chose to make carnitas for dinner, though food would probably be the last thing on his mind when he learned we had the house to ourselves. He arrived an hour later and I dropped the tortillas into the warming tray when I heard the garage door start to open and slid it into the oven. Zip stalked into the kitchen a minute later with a scowl on his face.

"You're never going to believe this," he alleged, forgoing a greeting altogether. He was apparently in a mood so I handed him the margarita glass I'd been drinking from and he lifted it to his mouth, downing what was left in two swallows while he dropped his utility belt onto the counter. "Yum," he said and added the empty glass to the counter. "What's the occasion?"

We hadn't indulged much since bringing Grace home so it was a reasonable question. "It's Tuesday," I replied.

That drew out a smile. "As good a reason as any." He tilted his head and sniffed the air. "Carnitas?"

Now _I_ smiled. "Yes. With black beans and rice."

"Oh my god, I've been craving that for weeks." He snuck past me and lifted the lid on the simmering pot. Snatching a wooden spoon from the utensil drawer next to the stove, he dipped it inside and brought a mound of pork to his mouth. "So good," he groaned after devouring the meat, and then leaned over and caught my lips in a quick kiss. "Hi," he said, "and thanks for dinner. Are we ready to eat? I'm starving."

"The beans need a few more minutes. So what won't I believe?"

The scowl was back and he ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "It's Zero."

"What about him?" I inquired when he didn't continue.

Zip leaned up against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "He's fucking my sister."

I was glad I hadn't poured another margarita or it would have spewed out all over the stove. "_What?_ He told you? Just like that?"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the pitcher off the blender base, filling the empty glass. "No, he said they're _dating_," he made air quotes, "but I know what it really means. He's fucking her and wanted to tell me before I found out...or worse, before I _caught_ them." He shuddered, swallowed some of the drink and then handed me the glass.

"Maybe they really _are_ dating. Zyla seemed pretty into him at our wedding." I took a sip and gave it back to him.

"_Please_, Zy doesn't _date_. She fu..." He cut himself off, eyes wide. "Is Gracie asleep?" He seemed horrified, realizing he'd just repeatedly used the word we tried really hard not to say in her presence.

I couldn't hide the smile. "I hope so but we'll have to call Ella to find out."

Zip's face went inexplicably blank. "What?" He asked as if he'd not heard me correctly.

"Gracie's spending the night with Aunt Ella and Uncle Luis tonight. It's just us. _Alone_." I took the glass from him and tipped it to my mouth but Zip grabbed it before I got any past my lips.

"We have the house to ourselves?" He asked with obvious surprise. "_All night_?"

"Yep."

"Shit," he said and then fisted my shirt at the collar and dragged me against his chest. I was barely able to take a breath before his mouth was on mine. He kissed with a singular focus, which was to get me naked, as the only time he removed his lips from mine was to whip my shirt off my body.

When he reached for the button on my cargos I asked if he wanted to eat first.

"Later," was his only response and it was much _much_ later but we did manage to consume the dinner I'd made, in between many other _activities_. Eventually we made it up to our bed, hopefully to sleep for several uninterrupted hours and Zip curved his body behind mine as we settled between the sheets.

"I know I've been whining about private time but...I think I really miss the little munchkin." He kissed the back of my neck and wrapped his arm around my bare stomach.

"Me too," I admitted, mildly surprised I actually meant it. I never thought I'd be the kind of man who would have or even _want_ a family like this but Zip and Gracie shot that theory all to hell. _And I was happy about it. _"Though, we are going to be missing her for a few more days."

His fingers flexed into my abs. "What? _Why_?"

"Stephanie and Ranger think we need to take the honeymoon we never got to go on so they're sending us to Tahiti."

"You are just full of surprises tonight, aren't you? When do we leave?"

"Friday morning, you okay with that?"

"Sunshine, White sandy beaches, cocktails with little umbrellas in them and you naked and all to myself? It will be a hardship, but I think I can handle it."

"Good to know," I said with a laugh.

He nuzzled his cheek against my neck and tightened his grip around my middle. "I love you, Hector. _Always_."

I was smiling when I drifted off to sleep in his arms.


	12. Double Date - Zip

_AN: I know there is something fundamentally wrong with missing people that don't actually exist, but I was missing Hector and Zip like crazy so here is a little "Glimpse". :)_

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this." Hector lifted an eyebrow and sipped his vodka rocks with lime

"It was your idea," he thought he should remind me.

"You didn't try very hard to talk me out of it," I countered and that drew a full smile.

"That's because you begged me not to. You know how I am when you're on your knees and begging." Hector smiled again, but it was that tiny one, where just the corners tilt. The one that makes me want to drag him from the room and have my way with him.

And I _had_ begged. It was the only way I thought he would agree. But now that it was actually happening I wished I'd kept my mouth shut.

"If you keep looking at me like that, I'm gonna be on my knees again later too."

"Of that I have no doubt, mi amor." He leaned in and kissed me, right there in the middle of the restaurant. I remember a time when he wouldn't get within ten feet of me if there were any people around, and he still prefers to keep our private life private, so it surprises me on the rare occasions when he does show a public display of affection.

When he pulled away I couldn't stop my thumb from brushing the spot under his eye where the teardrop tattoo had been. It was so small I didn't think I'd notice much after it was gone but it had apparently been a defining feature because the absence caught me off guard.

"You're still not used to it," he commented, recognizing my expression.

I traced over the now lighter skin. "Not really, it changed your face."

"In a good way?"

I understood why he wanted to do it and why he was going through the sessions to have the one on his neck banished as well but his outer shell was never much of a concern for me.

"The only thing I care about is what's in here." I let my palm drift down to his chest and pressed it directly over his heart.

Hector covered my hand with his and then brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the center of my palm before murmuring, "Te amo."

"When the hell did you two get so sappy?"

Hector's eyes closed briefly and he shook his head before we both turned to the familiar voice.

My sister was standing beside the table, grinning at us, and being the big brother that I am, I had to give her shit. "That was so romantic, Zy. You should write a book of poetry or sonnets, maybe."

A tight grip squeezed my thigh under the table in a silent warning to play nice.

"Actually, I think I'm more the erotica type," she shot back instantly and Zero, who had been quietly standing next to her, nervously cleared his throat.

Hector laughed, always amused by her smart mouth. "Hola Zyla," he greeted her after standing to give her a hug and then shook Zero's hand, which I found awkward, since we'd just seen him at work three hours ago. Everything with Zero was awkward since he'd started seeing my little sister and that was part of the reason for this ill-conceived double date. Hector was the one that pointed out I was making him nervous with all the death threats I issued whenever I heard him talking about Zy so I decided to try and interact with them more often and in a friendlier manner.

Although _she_ had threatened Hector the second she met him but he said it wasn't the same thing when I brought it up.

Zero stretched his arm out to shake my hand too and I took it reluctantly. His palm was clammy so I guessed I was making him nervous already. I cut my eyes to his hairline and noticed the beads of sweat there too. I told Hector once that Zero would be the result if Ranger and Lester ever had a baby. He was taller than both of them but had the same body type, long and lean and well-muscled in all the right places. His eyes were a hazel brown, a combo of Ranger's dark chocolate and Lester's emerald green. He had Lester's aquiline nose and Ranger's chiseled jaw and hair a shade lighter than both of them.

Hector said I was crazy, but I caught him pondering it more than once when the three men were in the same room together.

"What are you drinking?" Zyla asked Hector. "And why do I get the feeling I'm going to need two? You've never invited us on a double date before."

I felt Hector's eyes on me. It was definitely my show. "Get the drink," I said, and asked Zero if he wanted anything. He shook his head and I almost sighed. Between him and the usually always silent Hector, it was going to be up to me and my sister to keep the conversation going. She signaled the waiter and ordered.

"Spill it, Zip. You obviously have something to say."

I looked from her to Zero and back again. Hector squeezed my thigh once more and I started my rehearsed speech.

"Okay, well I just wanted to say that I know I've been giving you both a hard time about your relationship, mostly you, Zero, but I really am okay with it." I focused on Zero for the last part. "I'm a _little_ protective of my sister but as long as you don't hurt her and you continue to make her happy, we won't have any issues." I said _we_ so he'd know Hector would slit his throat probably faster than I would if he wronged Zy in anyway.

Zero opened his mouth but Zyla beat him to it. "How many times did you practice that little speech?" She quipped.

"I few," I admitted.

She laughed loudly at my confession and I did not miss the way Zero looked at her in that moment. It was very much the way Ranger looks at Stephanie and definitely the way Hector looks at me.

_He was in love with my sister._

"Well, I'm happy you took the time to get it just right because we have some news." She glanced briefly at Zero and took his hand before bringing her other one up from under the table. On the third finger of her left hand was a shiny diamond ring.

_What the hell?_

"What? No, I don't think so." I glared at Zero like he'd somehow betrayed me by proposing to my sister. "You're too young and he's not...no."

Angry tears filled her eyes and I got a pissed off look from Zero. "It's a good thing you don't have a say then, isn't it?" She spit out. "So what was that stupid speech you just gave? A big fucking lie, right to our faces?"

"All due respect," Zero said with anger threading through his voice, "you're being a dick." Not bad for his first words of the night.

He was right and I wasn't sure why. "I need some air," I announced to no one in particular and left the room abruptly.

It was only a few minutes before Hector found me out in the parking lot, leaning up against his truck. I was twisting my wedding ring around and around and trying to figure out why I had such a strong reaction to their announcement.

He stood beside me and took my hand. Bringing it too his lips, he kissed my ring and then laced our fingers together. "Zy gave me a five minute head start before she comes out here to kick your ass so you better talk fast. That wasn't you back there, Zip."

I squeezed his hand and let his warmth seep into my bones."I know...I just...she's my little sister and want what's best for her."

"And Zero isn't it?"

It sounded ridiculous when he said it out loud. Of the myriad of men that had worshiped at the altar of Zyla, Zero was the best of the lot. I really didn't think they came much better.

I sighed and pushed my hair off my forehead."Zero is fine, he's better than fine."

"But even though you know she's an adult, you still see her as the little kid you need to protect."

I nodded and squeezed his hand again. "When our Dad died, Ziggy and I took on the responsibility of looking out for her and then when Zig was gone too...it was just me watching out for her and making sure she was always okay."

"I know," Hector said. "It was the same for me with Elena, but she's not a little girl any more. You will always look after her, except now you'll have to take a back seat to Zero."

He was right, of course, and now I had to go and grovel at her feet. At both of their feet. "Yes, I will and that sucks, but I know you're right."

"Go tell _her_ that before she ruins her Manolo Blahnik's by putting one up your ass."

He kissed me once before tugging me back toward the restaurant. "_Oh shit_," I said when a realization dawned, making me stop in my tracks. Hector eyed me curiously. "This is what it's gonna be like when Gracie is old enough to date, isn't it?"

No," Hector disagreed, surprising me. "Gracie will not be allowed to date. _Ever_."

I laughed but was in total agreement with him. "Maybe when she's thirty."

"Thirty-five," he countered.

My sister wasn't at the table when we got back inside but there was an angry Zero. "She's in the restroom," he informed us at my questioning look, "but only because I asked her to let me talk to you." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Do we need to take this outside?"

"No," Hector answered for me with a pointed look. "I'll give you a minute." He disappeared, probably to the bar, and I sat down across from my sister's very tense fiancé.

"I've put up with your subtle digs since I started dating Zy because I know you're just trying to protect her but enough is enough. You disrespected her tonight and I won't tolerate anyone hurting her in any way, even her brother. I don't know if it's because you don't think I'm good enough for her or what, but I love her and I'm gonna marry her whether you like it or not."

It was probably the wrong reaction, but I smiled at him. I think that's what I'd been hoping would happen. He's seemed so quiet and..._meek_ around me since he started seeing her and I needed to know he had the balls to be the kind of man Zy needed. That he would love her and protect her at all costs.

"Good," told him with a nod. "I needed to know that. I needed to know you'll put her before everything else. I'm sorry I was a dick tonight...and probably some other nights too. It won't happen again...you're a good guy Zero, and I'm happy for you. Congratulations and welcome to the family." I lifted my glass to him in a toast and knocked back the rest of my drink.

The poor guy was looking a little stunned at my complete one eighty. He probably thought he was going to have to fight me and now didn't know what to do with all the pent up energy. "Oh...okay. I..."

"I'm going to go find my sister and apologize before she goes nuclear on my ass." I clapped him on the shoulder and headed toward the lobby where I saw Zyla hovering near the entrance.

"You're being a jerk," she started right away but I cut her off by pulling her into a hug.

"I know and I'm sorry. I love you and I'm happy for you. Congratulations, kid. Zero is good for you and I won't give him a hard time any more...as long as he continues to treat you like you deserve to be treated."

"I knew there would be a qualifier," she said as she pulled out of my arms but there was a smile on her face.

"You're my little sister, Zy. I'm not gonna stop looking out for you."

"I know," she said and squeezed my bicep. "But that's Zero's job now."

"Hector said that too."

"That's because Hector is very smart. You, on the other hand, are an idiot. And just for the record," she planted her hands on her hips in a very defiant posture, "I don't need either of you to protect me. I can take care of myself."

"Yes, you can. Forgive me?"

She rolled her eyes but agreed and swore not to put her foot up my bum so that was progress. "So did you tell Mom yet?" I asked as we headed back to our table. We hadn't even ordered yet and I was starving.

"God no," she said. "Can you imagine? She'll immediately start naming our future children and scare Zero off faster than you ever could."

I had to laugh. "True and she's probably already got a list of names saved on her computer."

"Yeah and I bet they all start with a Z."

After I quit being a tool, the evening turned out to be pretty great. Zero finally relaxed in our presence, I think for the first time in months, and Hector actually contributed to the conversation a few times. We said our goodbyes after dinner with a promise to do it again (but not too soon, Hector whispered in my ear) and watched them drive off.

I pulled Hector into my arms before he could climb into the truck. "Thank you for reining me in tonight," I said and brushed my lips over his mouth.

"It's what we do."

Yes it was. As Stephanie liked to say, we balanced each other, and that was very apparent tonight.

"Are you ready to go get the munchkin?"

"Nope. We're going to the Manor."

"We are? Since when?"

"Since I called your Mom while you were having a heart-to-heart with Zero and asked her if she would mind keeping Gracie tonight."

"And I'm sure she let you know what a hardship that would be before agreeing." Hector let out a chuckle. We were pretty sure my Mom would keep Gracie indefinitely if we let her.

"Of course, she has to keep up appearances. She did ask about the party again."

Grace was about to turn two and everyone was insisting we throw her a birthday party. "Did you make a decision about that yet?"

Hector wasn't the biggest fan of parties in general, but I was sure between Steph and my Mom they would wear him down, or more than likely, just throw her a party whether we wanted one or not.

"No and I don't want to tonight either."

"What _do_ you want to do?"

"I wanna dance with you. Let's go." He kissed me long and hard and deep and then we went to the club.


	13. Panic Room - Hector

I'm trying to work through a bad case of writer's block and I was trying to write a completely different story when this update wouldn't stay off the page. Go figure. Thanks in advance for continuing to follow along with these two. It makes me so happy that you seem to love them as much as I do.

* * *

When I came out of the bathroom, Zip was lying on his back with the crisp, white sheet pulled up only to his waist, leaving his ridged abs and bare chest exposed for my viewing pleasure. He was reading a book by the low light of the bedside lamp and I slipped in beside him and kissed his shoulder.

"What are you reading?"

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being."

That sounded a little pretentious for him so I peeked at a page and read a few lines. "That's Harry Potter," I said, calling him out on the lie. I'd read the book to Gracie more than once, or I should say Gracie read it to me, so I was very familiar with wizard and his friends.

Zip laughed. "Yeah alright, I couldn't get through the other book so I'm reading this one. Gracie said it would change my life."

Our daughter said things like that a lot. If she wasn't so smart I would say she didn't know what that even means but she understands more than I do most of the time. _About everything._

"And has it?" I asked my husband.

"Not yet, but I do think I need some more practice wielding my _magic _wand." He turned his head and caught my lips with his in a slow kiss. My own _wand_ morphed into a rigid length of solid oak at the touch of his tongue and Zip dropped the instantly forgotten book onto the mattress before rolling his muscled frame on top of mine.

He used his knees to push my thighs apart and fell snugly between them. "Practice does make perfect," I managed to say before his mouth was on mine again. Though he'd mastered that particular skill a long time ago, I was more than willing to be a guinea pig.

A small knock sounded, halting the _practice_ session. "Did you lock the door?" He whispered against my lips. Even after the unfortunate incident where we learned it was best to make sure the door was locked and Gracie learned she should always knock before entering any room with a closed door, we still panicked slightly that she'd catch us in the act again.

"Yes, and she was asleep ten minutes ago."

Zip sighed and lifted his head. "What is it, Munchkin?" He called loudly so she could hear him through all the soundproofing. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Are you decent?" She called back wryly and Zip lifted an eyebrow.

"What a little smart-ass and we are definitely not decent enough for five-year-old eyes," he said and rolled off me, reaching for the pants draped over the chair next to the bed. We'd learned to keep clothes close by as soon as she was fully mobile and running around the house on her own.

We'd also learned pretty early on our daughter was not a normal kid. She was speaking in complete sentences before she was two and by the time she was three she was reading books and had decided she wanted to learn to play the piano. We got her one for her birthday and for her _fourth_ birthday she asked for a library, which we added on to the living room down stairs and now that she was almost five, she announced she wanted to be a dancer so we are building her a dance studio in the back yard.

It's been a challenge having a kid smarter than both of us but we're managing. The special school for gifted children is obscenely expensive but worth every penny. Keeping the little genius from getting bored was more than we could handle on our own.

"Something's wrong," she replied back to Zip's question and the words had _me_ up and getting dressed as well. Gracie had unbelievable instincts and while most parents would probably chalk up a statement like that to a bad dream or a ploy for attention, it didn't apply to us. When she said something was wrong, _something was wrong._

Zip opened the door and swept her tiny frame into his arms. "What makes you say that?" He asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Uncle Michael is here," Gracie announced, meeting my eyes across the room.

A ball of dread dropped in my gut like a stone. "You sure?"

She nodded and added, "I saw him but he didn't see me." Zip was looking at me too and I could see everything I was thinking reflected in his piercing eyes.

"Go," I said, gesturing to the panel on the interior wall next to the master bath. Behind it was the panic room I'd had built soon after we brought Gracie home.

"_Hector_." I could tell by his voice Zip was torn between the desire to get our daughter to safety and the need to help me with whatever was happening but _I_ needed them both locked behind those thick walls of steel.

"Go," I said again, adding some bite to the tone and it galvanized him into action without another word.

I didn't move an inch until I heard the door snick shut and the bolts engage. Nothing short of a plasma torch and a ton of explosives would be able to penetrate that room and I headed to the gun safe knowing the loves of my life were protected.

After slipping my switch blade into my pocket and grabbing an extra magazine for my Glock, I killed the lights and headed silently down to the first floor.

There was only one reason Michael would have breached security on the house without announcing his presence. I really hoped that part of my past was finally over but it kept coming back to haunt me over and over.

I found him in the mud room off the kitchen peering out the slits in the blinds of the small window in the top of the door. The moonlight shining through the small crevices made the multiple scars on his face seem even whiter than they were. It was a miracle Gracie wasn't terrified of him but the girl, like her Aunt Stephanie, had a way of seeing past the surface to what lay beneath and she adored the damaged man. Once, not long ago, I'd come home and found the two of them in the library. They weren't reading or doing anything at all, not even talking. They simply sat side by side on the huge couch, staring off into the distance. Zip said they'd been sitting that way for over an hour and he didn't want to interrupt _whatever_ it was that was going on. I asked her later what they'd been doing and she said, with a tiny eye roll, "_Communicating_, Daddy," as if I'd just asked the dumbest question I could possible ask.

"Silently?" I'd replied incredulously and she bobbed her head.

_"It's what I like most about him. He says a whole lot of stuff without any words at all."_

And that was the truth. Though he'd definitely opened up more over the past couple of years, Michael kept most things buried inside and unless you knew how to read him, his thoughts often remained a mystery. Fortunately, Gracie knew how to look beyond his walls of defense, and so did I. Right now he was in protective mode and if it came to it, he'd die to keep me and my family safe.

"How'd you know I was here?" He asked without turning his sea blue eyes on me.

"Gracie," I replied and that brought his golden head around. An alarming grin spread his lips.

"That kid is quieter than you. I didn't even get a hint of her anywhere." His tone was full of pride and I couldn't help but grin back at him.

"I know. Wonder where she learned those ninja skills?"

"Is a mystery," he intoned with a single eyebrow wag.

Or a building full of very skilled men more than willing to teach her anything she asked. She had the whole lot of them wrapped around her beautiful fingers.

Michael turned back to his window watching without explaining his presence, but then he didn't have to. We both knew why he was there.

"How many?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"Four. Maybe five. Manny and Gabe are out there, double checking."

It didn't happen often, but they still came for me, even after all this time. I'd removed the scheduled surveillance on the house two years ago but Michael still took it upon himself to patrol and right now I was grateful. He'd been the first one to discover them the last effort they'd made as well. That time we'd called Morelli and gotten the police involved. Two of them were still in jail and I was guessing this had more to do with that than with what either I or my brother had done in the past.

I pulled my gun and flipped the safety. "Let's do this," I said, reaching for the switch that disengaged the floor bolt. Someday I would have to ask him how he breached those, though I doubted he'd reveal his secret. Not even Ranger had been able to get past the bolts.

Michael met my eyes and shook his head. "And then what? The police again? They aren't going to stop my friend, not ever. The grudge runs too long and too deep for them to give it up."

I knew he was right but I wasn't ready to contemplate what may be the only permanent solution. "What do you suggest?"

He smiled again, that awful, terrifying smile and said," I suggest you go upstairs, put your weapons away, lock yourself in that room with your gorgeous husband and your beautiful daughter and let me do what I do best."

It was tempting, very much so, but was completely against my nature. I didn't let other people fight my battles.

"It's too much to ask," I tried.

"You didn't ask," he pointed out.

"It's too dangerous."

Michael shook his head making a lock of corn silk hair fall over his forehead. "I don't think there's anything anyone could do that I haven't already endured, brother."

I opened my mouth again to protest further but he cut me off by planting his hands on top of my shoulders and saying more than I've ever heard him say at one time...out loud, anyway.

"There aren't many people I care about...or who care about me, but you and your family are on that list and I will do everything I can to make sure you stay there. I respect the hell out of you and your choices but this needs to be done and you know I can do it without leaving a single trace." He took a small, quiet breath before finishing with what I knew to be the truth.

"At some point I _will_ stop asking."

He'd hinted at it before and I'd always shut him down but this time he was deliberate with his intentions and I knew I'd never be able to stop him when he decided to take control.

I tucked my gun into the small of my back and then with only a single nod of my head, Michael was out the door to begin his self-imposed mission. I wanted to say a hundred things to him but we both knew no words would change anything. Though he'd come a long way from the day we met on the roof of Rangeman, the day we'd almost killed each other, there were parts of his soul too mangled to repair...so I let him go and could only hope he'd return unharmed.

With a heavy heart I climbed the stairs and made my way to the room behind the wall where my entire life waited for me.

Gracie had fallen asleep curled against Zip's chest, her long dark hair spilling across his golden skin, in the small bed pushed into the corner of the room. It wasn't really big enough for three people but I crawled in anyway and wrapped my arms around them both.

_"Hec?"_ Zip whispered, trying to keep Grace asleep. The questions burning in his eyes demanded answers but I shook my head. I would tell him later, of course, but for now this was enough, being here, warm and safe with my family in my arms.

* * *

AN: Thank you _LilyGhost_ for the photo that prompted the first paragraph. :)


	14. The Party - Zip

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar - all mistakes are mine_

More Hector and Zip - It's all my brain wants to write so I'm going with it. Thanks for all the reviews for this story, they are keeping the Hector and Zip love story going!

* * *

"How did you get Hector to agree to it?" Stephanie wanted to know as she lowered herself into the chair beside me after handing over the bottle of water I'd requested. "I've been bugging him for weeks. Well, _years_ actually, but this is the first time he's conceded."

My husband had an intense dislike for parties or for any gathering larger than about six people at a time so he'd been resolutely against any kind of celebration for our daughter. _"At least until she's old enough to remember it,"_ he'd said repeatedly. Apparently this year she was old enough.

"It wasn't me. Gracie asked if she could have a party and you know he won't say no to her...not for something like that anyway." He did deny some of her requests when he figured out she was testing his limits.

"I don't know how either one of you say no to that face. I'd give her my car if she asked for it," Bobby admitted with a shake of his head.

"And that's why I'm glad we had a boy," Camille chimed in. "Can you imagine if Ethan was a girl? We'd probably have a pony in the back yard right now." Bobby did not even attempt to disagree with his wife.

"Well I don't know how either of you _understand_ her enough to say yes _or_ no. Yesterday she told me I was being acrimonious...I had to look it up." Lester's face held a hint of embarrassment at the confession, which made me smile, but I knew what he meant. I had to look up words she said sometimes too.

"First you had to figure out how to _spell_ it and _then_ you looked it up," Melanie, his ever helpful wife included, making all of us laugh.

"You are a cruel woman, Mrs. Santos," he told her but leaned over and kissed her anyway.

"Eww, Dad! Stop being gross!" A filled to capacity water balloon was hurled after that announcement and broke over Lester's head, just as intended. We all turned to the Santos twins who were apparently fed up with being subjected to their parent's public displays of affection on a regular basis.

"And that's why I sometimes wish we had girls," Melanie sighed as Lester tore after his sons for a bit of revenge.

"Some girls I know from school think it's gross too." The beautiful birthday girl appeared in front of the semi-circle of chairs we'd placed around the fire pit and where most of the adults had gathered while the kids were having a water war. Only twenty minutes ago Gracie had been drenched to the bone after her cousins emptied an entire super soaker at her but now she was completely dry with her long black hair twisted up into a perfect bun and she was dressed in the black leotard and matching tutu, trimmed with purple satin, which Ella made for her. She climbed onto my lap, and having no aversion to public affection, planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Daddy is being anti-social," she pouted and settled on my thighs as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Where is he?" Stephanie inquired, cutting her eyes to the house where he was probably hiding.

"In the kitchen," she replied and added with an eye roll, "As usual."

"The food excuse?" I asked. Hector always said he needed to check on the food when being around everyone became too much.

"What else? I think he's missing Uncle Michael and is being sulky about it. I told him he'd be back today because he wouldn't miss my dance...he won't, will he?" She asked, suddenly not so confident.

As usual, Gracie's intuition was spot on. Hector had been distant and moody since Michael and Gabe disappeared nearly three weeks ago and it didn't escape her attention...or mine. We obviously didn't tell her the real reason they'd been gone for so long and we couldn't promise they'd be back at all so we'd made up a vague excuse about where they were and now it just might bite us in the ass.

"I'm sure he'll try his best to be here," I said, hoping it was the truth and met Ranger's all-seeing eyes. He was watching and listening to our discussion intently and when he gave a minuscule shake of his head, letting me know he had no news on the brothers, my heart sank a little for Gracie. She would be very disappointed if they missed her birthday dance. With the help of Camille, she'd planned and choreographed the entire routine and was really excited to christen her new dance studio.

She must have sensed something in my tone or saw it in my eyes because she narrowed hers at me suspiciously and said, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Hey Gracie, come here and show Ranger your new tutu," Steph jumped in, instinctively rescuing me. "And who helped you with your hair? It looks great!" Easily distracted, my daughter beamed a smile at her and hopped off my lap, running over to Ranger and if he hadn't been sitting right next to his wife I would have kissed her on the mouth in gratitude. Ranger swept Grace into his arms and patiently listened to her babble about her tutu...maybe Steph _and_ Ranger deserved a kiss.

It was almost time for lunch and I was just about to use Hector's excuse of checking on the food so I could try and coax him out of hiding but was derailed by the arrival of Tank, carrying my one-year-old nephew, Zaydon. I still got a great deal of satisfaction out of teasing my sister for using one of the _Z_ names our Mother had suggested for her first born.

Tank looked distressed, and I couldn't really blame him as being covered in vomit was never pleasant. He was holding Zaydon by the armpits, his little body extended straight out from Tank's chest, and eyeing him warily, afraid he might throw up again. "Uh-oh," my sister said from my other side. "What happened?"

"Hell if I know," Tank growled. "One second Zero was holding him and then he thrust him into my arms so he could help Lester keep Cougar and Logan from killing each other and as soon as I touched him he spewed all over me."

"You certainly make me want hurl," Bobby commented.

"Yep," my sister agreed. "Seems like a normal reaction to me." She had pretty big balls, teasing a man of that size, when her kid had just defiled his entire torso. Of course since she was pregnant again, she felt pretty confident he wouldn't shoot her. Tank, showing some excellent restraint, lifted an eyebrow and then without warning, dropped the vomit covered Zaydon into her lap.

"Hey!" She protested, lifting him off her sundress. "That was uncalled for. Why do we all have to be covered in vomit?"

He opened his mouth, I'm sure to say something inappropriate for children's ears when Beth arrived, with Jackson in tow.

"Don't," she warned with a look and he snapped his jaw closed. "There are spare clothes in the car. Take your son with you, he needs a time out."

"Do I want to know why?" Tank asked, peering down at the six-year-old mini version of him.

The kid had the decency to look chagrined, obviously aware he'd done something wrong.

"He'll tell you. Go," she encouraged with a nose wrinkle, "before it starts to cook in the sun."

As a parting gesture, Tank removed his soiled shirt and threw it at Bobby's face, hitting his target with precision.

"Ah fu..dge," Bobby censored himself while gingerly removing the offending item off his head. It was something we'd all had to learn to do, and to no one's surprise, Stephanie had the hardest time with it.

"I'm going inside before someone inadvertently touches me with vomit," I announced so I could go find Hector.

"Oh good," my sister said and I knew what the next sentence would be so I cut her off before she could ask.

"No way. I'm not getting near that kid _or_ you until you're both vomit free."

"But," she tried to protest, holding Zaydon out to me, "his diaper bag is right inside the door by the powder room. You have to walk right by both on your way in..."

"Forget it, and I'm not falling for the _"but I'm pregnant"_ excuse either. You're only four months and barely even showing, I think you can handle it."

I took off before she could say anything else and saw Stephanie kiss Ranger before launching out of her chair to follow me. A second later she looped her arm through mine and we walked to the house. "He's okay," I said before she could ask. Hector had been avoiding everyone lately, even Stephanie and I knew she was worried.

"No he's not," she countered. "He's ditched our breakfast date three times in the past week and he's hiding in the house at his own daughter's birthday party. That is not okay."

"Well, you know how he hates parties and people..."

"_Zip_," she said, calling me out on the bullshit.

"Yeah, I know. He'll be fine. I'm gonna go talk to him right now."

"Would it do any good for me to come along?" She asked. Normally Steph could always get him out of a funk but this was different and I don't know how much or how little she knew about what was going on so I didn't want to say anything. Knowing Ranger, I would bet he only skimmed over the details and I wasn't gonna be the one to tell her what I knew Hector wouldn't want her to know.

I shook my head and she sighed. "That's what I figured, and I probably don't want to know what this is about and what it has to do with Michael and Gabe either, do I?"

"Probably not," I agreed.

"Okay," she said with a shrug, knowing when she shouldn't push. "But tell him I'm not letting him skip breakfast tomorrow. He owes me about a dozen waffles by now." She kissed me on the cheek before escaping into the house and slipping into the powder room.

I headed toward the smell of carnitas and enchiladas emanating from the kitchen. I knew he wouldn't be in there anymore but I wanted to thank my Mom and Ella again for making all the food for the party.

When I arrived, the two women were busy loading trays they would soon being carrying outside to feed the hungry mob.

"Oh good," my Mother said upon my entrance, "come taste this." She was holding up a spoon overflowing with pork and shoved it in my mouth before I could protest.

I told her it was delicious after I swallowed. "Well I hope so, it's Hector's recipe."

"Of course it is. Listen, I hope you know how much this means to us, you two doing all the cooking today."

"Please," Ella waved me off. "You know we'd do anything for that beautiful little girl, and for you, Mijo." She touched my cheek and then whispered, "He's in the library."

Ella didn't miss much either. I snuck a bite of my Mom's enchiladas too, warned her Zyla would probably try and pawn off her vomit prone kid and then went in search of Hector.

He was indeed in the library and I found him standing in front of the large bay window which had a great view of the back yard. He was watching all the future Rangemen running around like lunatics and I came up behind him and traced my fingers over the new tattoo on the back of his neck. He'd gotten it a month ago, my name interwoven through Gracie's in that wide, cursive script he preferred. I added a kiss to it before sliding my arms around his waist and pulling him against my chest.

"You're missing all the fun," I said and he covered one of my hands with his across his abdomen, lacing our fingers together.

"Since when is projectile vomiting fun?"

He had me there. "Steph told me to tell you that you owe her a dozen waffles."

A small smile tilted his lips which was a good sign. "And my Mother has made carnitas that might be better than yours, just so you know." That got me another tiny smile. _Progress. _

"Gracie used a word with Lester he had to look up and I still don't think he knows what it means." A bark of laughter sounded from his throat and I started to relax a little. I was betting if I got out the margarita machine I could get him to rejoin the party. He nuzzled his cheek against mine, let out a small breath and then said something that made me hold mine.

"My brother would have loved this." He gestured to all the kids playing outside. "This was our favorite thing when we were little, before our Father left. We would have water wars in the back yard with him and Elena and a bunch of the kids in the neighborhood would come and play while my Mother made carnitas and beans. The carnitas...it's her recipe." Hector went quiet and I tried not to get emotional. The fact he shared his Mother's recipe with mine did crazy things to my heart. Add in the childhood memory and I was on the verge of losing it. He never brought up his Dad, _ever_, and he hadn't mentioned his brother more than a handful of times since his death so I was a little floored with the unsolicited information.

"We need to tell her about Emilio," he added before I could get myself together enough to respond. We hadn't talked about _that_ in over a year but I hadn't pushed the subject. It was something he had to decide on his own and apparently he had.

"Okay," I agreed slowly, finally able to reply without my voice breaking. "Today?"

"No," he said with another small smile. "Not today, but soon. I want to tell her before she finds out on her own."

And with Gracie's brain capacity, it was a distinct possibility. "Whenever you're ready you know I'll be there."

"I know," he agreed and turned in my arms, wrapping his own around my neck. He brushed his lips across mine and whispered, _"Te amo"_ before kissing me again. When his tongue sought mine I thought it would be a good time for _both_ of us to hide from our party guests. Really hide, like upstairs, behind our double locked bedroom door.

He pulled me closer and my hopes for a secluded interlude were dashed by a deep clearing of a throat and then our daughter saying, "They do that _all_ the time and you should _always_ knock before going through any closed door in this house."

Hector released me from his grip and took a step back, peering over my shoulder. His face was carefully blank and I turned to see who Gracie had brought into the room.

And there he was, not a golden hair out of place and Gracie cradled in the arms roped with scars.

The two men stared at each other across the room in complete silence but I'd learned most of the time they didn't have to actually speak to have a conversation. I took Gracie from his embrace and we left them alone. They'd eventually say at least a few words and none would be any Gracie should hear so I led her from the room, knowing they'd rejoin the party soon.

"I _told_ you Michael wouldn't miss my dance," she said, gripping my hand as we headed outside. "Gabe's here too...they look tired, Dad. Something bad happened, didn't it?"

Her astute observations would never cease to amaze me. "Yeah, baby, it did. But everything is going to be fine now, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed with a nod. I glanced down at her determined face and nearly lost control again. Gracie looked so much like Hector it was really easy to forget she wasn't biologically his.

"I love you, Munchkin, you know that, right?"

"As much as you love Grandma's enchiladas?" She teased.

"_Way_ more than enchiladas."

"Good to know," she said with a grin. "I love you too. More than tres leches cake."

"Whoa. That's some _serious_ love."

"Yeah. And more than Stephanie loves Ranger."

"Okay, now I _know_ you're lying."

Gracie laughed and tugged on my hand. "C'mon. Grandma Ella said the food's ready."

Michael and Hector joined us shortly after and the rest of Gracie's birthday party went off without a hitch and thankfully, remained vomit free. Her dance was beautiful and had more than one of us pretending we had something in our eyes, but it had been a long day and by the time she blew out the candles on her tres leches cake, I could tell she wouldn't stay awake much longer.

We said goodbye to our guests just as the sun was starting to drop from the late summer night sky and then tucked our daughter into bed, where she'd hopefully stay until morning.

Hector closed Gracie's door and then took my hand. I hoped he would be tucking _me_ into bed too but he surprised me by leading me downstairs and then outside. I followed him across the deck and got another surprise when he rounded the side of the house and started climbing the ladder I swear I put away after we hung the birthday streamers across the back yard.

When we reached the roof, he once again laced his fingers through mine and we stood side by side watching the setting sun turn the sky ten different shades of pink and orange before fading into a dusky purple and dropping completely from the horizon. It was stunning and much like several other things today left me a little breathless with unchecked emotion.

Hector released my fingers but only to slide his hand around my waist and bring me flush against his side.

"She's going to want another party next year, isn't she?" He asked quietly after kissing the sensitive skin just below my earlobe.

"I'm afraid so," I replied gravely. "Probably every year from here on out."

"You couldn't even lie to me about that?" Even in the inky blackness I could see the humor glinting in his eyes.

"That's not the worst part," I said, getting ready to tell him what might give him a stroke.

"How could it be worse?"

"She told me what she wants for her birthday next year."

"Already? What are we going to be building this time?"

I turned into him and he automatically wrapped me in a hug. I held him tight, hopefully to keep him from falling off the roof. "A baby brother."

He was quiet so long I was starting to think maybe he really _had_ a stroke but then he whispered, _"Holy fuck..."_

* * *

_AN:Thanks again to **LilyGhost** for the picture that prompted the rooftop scene. :)_


	15. Christmas - Hector

_A little Hector and Zip for the holiday. Merry Christmas everyone!_

* * *

I was late and anxious to get home and probably driving way too fast when the glare coming from our house made me tap the brakes. I didn't think I'd ever seen so many lights in one location before. It was still over two weeks until Christmas but the houses in the neighborhood were teeming with decorations and lights and general holiday cheer. None more so than my own, _apparently._

Every available surface, including trees and shrubbery, was drenched in multi-colored twinkling lights. There appeared to be a Santa Claus on the roof trying to climb into our chimney while his reindeer looked on and multiple snowmen complete with top hats, scarves and carrot noses littered the front yard. The two angels dangling from the eaves above the porch, no doubt an homage that would amuse Gabriel and Michael, caught my eye as I rolled up the driveway. There was probably more I'd missed but my brain had gone into overload and I couldn't process anything else. I eased my truck into the garage and vaguely wondered where it had all come from.

I was guessing Gracie was the mastermind. We'd promised her we'd put up lights this year but what I just witnessed was a display way beyond the single strand I'd envisioned stringing around the gutters. Somebody owed me an explanation as to why our house could now undoubtedly be seen from space.

I grabbed the file box I'd trekked out to Newark to retrieve and headed inside. After kicking off my boots in the mud room and hanging up my jacket, I inhaled the sweet scent of what promised to be Christmas cookies as I made my way through the kitchen. The house was unusually quiet and I called out for Zip and Grace.

"In here," Zip responded and I couldn't stop the grin at the sound of his voice. Even after all this time, that deep rumble still made me smile every single time.

I came through the threshold of the great room and found my gorgeous husband reclining on the couch with a tumbler of what appeared to be eggnog cradled in his palm while he eyed the ten foot balsam fir, which was also newly decorated. The white lights from the tree were giving his golden skin an angelic glow and I ached to touch every inch of him.

"You missed all the fun," he said, laying his sparkling gaze on mine. I set the box on the coffee table and then leaned down for the drawn-out, tongue-tangling kiss I'd been craving all day. It was hard to stop once I started because the mixture of eggnog and cookies tasted so good, but I managed to break away before I lost all control. We had to be careful with a five-year-old in the house.

"I thought the fun wasn't supposed to start until Saturday and where is Gracie?"

"Yeah, well our daughter can be very persuasive and she's at my sister's. Probably convincing Zero to put up their lights too. How's the tree look?"

"The tree is great but _you_ look better." I kissed him once more before taking a sip of the eggnog and setting it on the side table so I could tug him to his feet. "We should probably have a discussion about the excessiveness of the lights outside but since I now know we're kid-free, there are about a dozen other things I want to do first."

I touched my lips to his again and pulled his well-muscled body flush with mine. Finding ourselves alone this early was a rarity and I was going to take advantage whenever I could. "We don't have much time," he said against my mouth as I reached for the button holding his cargo pants closed. "Zyla's dropping her off at 6:30."

I checked the clock on the wall above the sofa while I inched down his zipper. "Not ideal but I can accomplish a lot in a half an hour." Zip smiled and slid his warm fingers under the hem of my shirt.

We used only twenty of the thirty minute allotment but it was time well-spent. I could easily fall asleep right under the tree where we'd ended up but Zip was already scrambling to retrieve our clothes and tossed my shirt at my head when I complained about him leaving my arms.

"What are the chances we can get your sister to keep the munchkin tonight and you can stay naked under this tree with me until morning?"

He stepped into his cargos while I admired the view of his powerful thighs and shot down my hopeful thought. "Slim to none. Gracie is so excited for you to see the lights there's no way she'll stay over there."

Right on cue his phone rang from the pocket of the pants he'd just slid over his hips. He plucked it out and answered on speaker. "Hey Little Sis, what's up?"

"This is your five minute warning to get your clothes on; we're two blocks away."

"Very funny, Zyla. And would you stop saying shit like that in front of the kid?" His sister's boisterous laugh echoed out through the small speaker.

"Relax; she and Zaydon are in the back seat with their headphones on watching Frozen for the bajillionth time. I think I'm in love with the inventor of headphones."

Zip rolled his eyes. "It's a good thing Zero isn't the jealous type. Last week you told me you were in love with guy who delivered your pizzas. See you soon." He disconnected, dropped the phone onto the table and I rolled out from under the tree.

"How does she always know when we're naked? It's creepy."

I laughed and tugged my shirt down over my head. "It's not that hard to figure out; we tend to end up that way every time we're alone."

Zip flashed me his dimple. "True. Hopefully we'll have more time when the opportunity presents itself again. You gonna tell me what's in this box?" He tapped the lid as he slipped on his shoes.

I'd temporarily forgotten the reason I'd been late. Zip easily distracted me sometimes. "I went out to the storage unit where we're keeping Emilio's things." It didn't need further explanation.

"Today's the day then?"

"I've run out of excuses," I replied with a shrug. "Do you think it should wait until after Christmas?"

He shook his head. "Not if you're ready. It only gets harder the longer you wait."

Two beeps of a horn announced the arrival of Zyla and we grabbed coats before going outside to collect our daughter.

_"__Daddy!__"_ Grace Elena was already running up the front walk and I scooped her into my arms. Zyla was right behind her, waddling as fast as she could in her extremely pregnant condition.

"Watch Zaydon," she said to Zip as he brushed a kiss across her cheek. "I gotta pee. Hey, Hec," was her greeting to me on the dash to the bathroom.

"She's gotta go all the time now," Grace informed me while Zip climbed into the back seat of Zyla's car so he could entertain his nephew, still buckled into his car seat. "Do you like the lights? Me and Dad, and Grandma and Uncle Tank spent all morning hanging them. And look, we even got Santa and his reindeer!" She pointed to the roof and I followed the line of her arm.

Gracie _loved _Christmas and her smile was so big there was no way I was going to tell her I thought it was _way_ overdone_. _And how the hell had she roped _Tank_ into helping? At least I knew it wasn't only _us_ who had a hard time saying no.

"I think it looks amazing, Baby. We need to get some photos of you in front of this masterpiece."

"Good idea! Where's your phone?"

I set her down and straightened the purple stocking cap on her head. "Inside on the table next to the tree. Go in and get it and make sure your Aunt Zy is okay."

"I think she's gonna pop out that kid any second," Grace observed and ran the rest of the distance to the front door.

Zyla came back a minute later, without her niece, and gave me a real hello in the form of a hug, now that she wasn't racing to control her bladder.

"How're you feeling?" I inquired when she let go.

She rubbed her enormous belly and heaved a dramatic sigh. "I wouldn't mind if he got here now. He kicks me constantly."

Their second son was due on New Year's Day and I don't think Zero shared her hopes for an early birth. He had a hard time keeping up with the constantly-in-motion Zaydon so just the thought of another version running around soon exhausted him.

"Zay did too, if I recall."

"Yeah, he did. It's why I was hoping for a girl this time; I bet Gracie didn't kick 24-7."

The girl in question came barreling out of the house at a dead run with my phone in her hand and what looked like Santa hats in the other. "I wouldn't bet on that."

"I'm ready, but you and Dad need to wear these!" One of the things I've learned in my four short years as a parent is if your kid asks you to wear a stupid Santa hat, you wear the hat.

Gracie held up the hats and looked up at her Aunt. "Will you take our photo?"

"I sure will," Zyla agreed with a wicked grin. "You know I'm going to need copies of these with you wearing this hat, right?" She said as Gracie ran to get Zip out of the car.

"Not a chance in hell, Zy." She was still laughing when Zip arrived and spent five minutes taking photos of the three of us in varies poses, and then some of just Grace.

We said goodbye to Zyla and Zaydon after the impromptu photo session and went back inside the house for dinner. I was informed Zip's Mother had made tamales and left some for us so that's what we had. I was more than willing to wait until our bellies were full and happy before breaching the topic of Gracie's biological father.

"Can we watch Elf?" She asked as we were cleaning up the dinner mess and Zip shot me a look from behind her back. It was hard to take him seriously as he was still wearing the Santa hat.

"Sure. Why don't you go find the DVD and Zip and I will finish up in here."

"Yay!" She squealed and bolted from the room. I went back to loading the dishwasher and Zip slipped his arms around my waist from behind before gently kissing the tattoo on the back of my neck.

"You're stalling again," he commented against my skin.

I leaned into his chest and let him kiss me some more. "I know. Maybe I'll wait until after Christmas."

He probably wanted to tell me to suck it up and get it over with but remained silent, letting what he wasn't saying linger in the air around us.

"Okay, I'll tell her before the movie," I relented when he stopped gifting me with his soft lips.

"Good." Zip whipped me around and took my mouth in a very not-for-children's-eyes kind of way which, of course, our not-so-patient daughter cut short a second later.

_"Dads!" _She whined. "Can't you do that after I go to sleep?"

"We'll be doing that and a whole more after she's in bed," Zip whispered in my ear before he spun around and faced the notorious interrupter.

"Only if you promise to go to bed without whining about it being too early, otherwise we'll have to start kissing in front of you all the time."

Gracie dramatically rolled her eyes, just like her Aunt Stephanie. "Oh, alright. But I still think 9:00 is way too early to go to sleep when I don't even have school the next day. Can we start the movie now?" Zip cut his eyes to me and I took a calming breath before replying.

"There is something I want to talk to you about first."

That got me a quizzical head tilt. "Okay...but...am I in trouble?"

"No. Let's go to the living room."

Zip gave my shoulder an encouraging squeeze as we followed her out to the couch. She eyed the box still waiting on the table as she settled into a cushion. Zip filled the chair across from us and I sat gingerly beside her, rubbing my suddenly sweating palms on the knees of my jeans.

My nerves were getting the best of me and the ever-observant Grace picked up on it immediately. "What's wrong? You seem really nervous."

I shot a quick look to Zip and he gave me a nod. "Nothing is wrong I just..."

"Is this about me being adopted?" She interjected. The girl would never cease to amaze me. Zip's eyebrows shot up and I had to swallow before I could answer.

"You already know you're adopted?"

Gracie shrugged. "Well, sure." She looked from me to Zip and back again. "I mean, you _are_ two _men_ and I know how babies are made, Daddy." How is it possible that she is only five?

"How and why do you know that?" Zip blurted with a slightly panicked expression, which I'm sure mirrored my own.

"I read about it in one of the encyclopedia's Grandma gave me last year."

It was way too soon to be having the "sex talk" so I quickly changed the subject before I broke out in hives. "Let's get back on track. Yes, you are adopted but what I really wanted to discuss is the fact that your Dad -"

"_You_ are my Dad," she broke in. "You and Zip," she added flicking her eyes briefly his way. "You're the ones who take care of me, who love me to the moon and back, and that is what matters not the _biology_."

"You're right," Zip said which was good because I seemed to have a lump in my throat. "But we just wanted you to know where you came from, _biologically_, in case you were ever curious about it."

I nodded my agreement, grateful he always knew what was in my head.

"I am _kind of_ curious," Gracie responded. "Did you know my parents?"

I swallowed the lump and reached for the box. "I knew your Father. His name was Emilio and he was my brother."

Pulling out the last picture ever taken of the two of us together, I handed it to Grace. It had been about a year before our Mother died and one of the last times the whole family had been together. One of our cousins had snapped the photo of us standing side-by-side next to the long table where we frequently had large family dinners in the backyard of our childhood home. We were dressed almost identically and my Mother was the only one who could ever tell us apart in photographs. This particular one had sat by her bedside until the day she died. I'd been surprised to find it amongst Emilio's possessions when I went to empty his apartment.

"Now it makes sense," Gracie was saying, bringing me out of the memory.

"What does?"

"Why you smelled different. And your voice, it wasn't quite the same." Could she really remember that? She was barely a year old when he died.

"Do you remember him?" I asked

"Sort of. Impressions mostly. Wow, you were twins. That's pretty cool. Like Luke and Logan!"

I had to smile at the mention of the Santos boys. "Yes, just like that."

Grace glanced back down at the photo and ran her thumb over my face. "You had a tattoo removed," she observed astutely.

"A few," I admitted.

"People would be able to tell you apart now...if he was alive. He did die, right?"

"Yes, baby, he did. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, looking up at me. "I'm happy you and Zip brought me home."

"We are too. More than you will ever know, but if you have any questions about Emilio or want to know anything about before we adopted you, I want you to know you can ask and I will do my best to answer anything you want to know, okay?"

She nodded and glanced at the picture again. "Can I keep this?"

"Yes, and everything else in this box. I brought some of his things for you and there is more if you ever want them."

"Okay...I do have one question."

"Ask away."

"Did you know my Mother too?" And that was the one question I was dreading. I looked at Zip but he could only shrug. Unfortunately, I knew very little about the woman who had given birth to her.

"I didn't. I don't know much beyond her name but I'll find out whatever I can if you want to know. Deal?" I was sure Ranger could help if it came to that.

"Deal," she agreed with a grin and then she got me all emotional again when she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, "Thank you for adopting me and taking care of me and loving me." I had to leave the room to get myself under control when Zip got the same treatment.

I still didn't know what I'd done to deserve those two beautiful people but I wouldn't change a single second of our life together.

"_Daddy_," Gracie called as I was swiping at my eyes. "Come back so we can watch the movie!"

When I went back into the room, she was snuggled on Zip's lap, waiting for me to start the movie and my heart did a little flip in my chest at the sight of the two of them. I didn't think I'd ever get used to how full it felt in their presence.

I settled beside them, draping my arm across Zip's shoulder so I could bring them closer and he hit play on the remote. By the time the opening credits were over, Gracie's eyelids were starting to droop and just as Buddy the Elf made his way through the Lincoln tunnel into New York City, she was fast asleep against Zip's chest.

"She's out," he whispered. "Do you want me to take her up?"

"No, I'll do it and then you and I are going to do _other_ things."

"Yes, we are," he said. "Do you have anything in _particular_ in mind?"

"I have a whole list of particular things."

"Then you should hurry."

I gathered Gracie in my arms and carried her quickly up the stairs and to her room. The day's activities must have worn her out because she didn't stir even a little. I tucked her in, pressed my lips to her forehead and then went to hopefully begin some _adult_ activities. I headed back downstairs but Zip was no longer on the couch and after a quick scan of the rest of the bottom floor, I decided he must have snuck past Grace's room and into our master suite.

I took the stairs two at a time and made my way silently down the hall. The vision greeting me when I slipped through the threshold had me flipping the double deadbolts and trying to determine if I'd ever seen lights used in a better way than how Zip had placed them inside our room.

He was lounging on his side in the middle of our bed with an arm bent at the elbow to prop up his head and wearing nothing but that infernal Santa hat and a strategically placed string of colored lights.

"She made the Emilio talk really easy," he commented casually as he tracked my progress across the room. I'd started to remove an article of clothing with every step with the intent of being naked by the time I reached the bed.

"Yes," I agreed. "Surprisingly so." I whipped off my shirt and took another step.

"Are you okay with how it went?" He shifted his legs, drawing my attention to below his waist.

"Yes. Per usual, I was worried for nothing where she's concerned." I kicked off my pants taking my socks with them and started on the boxer briefs.

"Do you want to talk about her already knowing about the human reproductive system?" He let his hand drift toward the only part of his _human_ anatomy on which I wanted to focus. His fingers enclosed the tip and I didn't think I'd ever been so hard.

"No, I don't _ever_ want to talk about that." The boxers slid down my legs and I kicked them away as I hit the edge of the bed.

He was trying not to smile but it wasn't working. "Fair enough. We still have some Christmas shopping to do, should we talk about that?"

"Zip?" I said, placing one knee on the bed.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

He grinned and pulled me on top of him. "_Te amo, Hector." _

It was the last thing he said until the sun rose the next morning.


	16. A new family member - Zip

_JE owns the rights to anything familiar. The many mistakes are all mine._

Thank you to**_ highlandsgirl_** for the medical info and to **_LilyGhost_** for the Hector and Zip _inspirational_ photos. ;)

* * *

"No offense, Woody, but if you don't fucking step on the gas I'm gonna shove you out the door and drive myself."

I could tell he wanted to lecture me on safety, especially in light of what had happened, but I couldn't give a shit at the moment. If we didn't get there soon I was going to lose my goddamn mind.

To his credit, he accelerated to an excessive speed through the next green light and didn't say a word until we reached our destination. It had been forty-two minutes since I got the call and I had no idea if they were alive or dead or…something in between.

When we arrived at the hospital, I hit the ground running before he brought the car to a complete stop. I heard him say something as I ran but it didn't register in my addled brain. Hector and Grace were the only thoughts in my head and until I knew if they were okay, nothing else mattered.

The waiting room was packed to capacity with what looked like the entire Rangeman Company and they turned as one unit when I came through the sliding door. My sister and Zero reached me first and Zyla slid her arm around my waist. "They're okay but Grace is in surgery."

Relief temporarily flooded through my veins. They were alive and so I could stay that way too. "What happened?"

Tank stepped up. "We're still trying to get all the details but it looks like a drunk driver ran a red light and t-boned them in an intersection." My stomach dropped like I'd swallowed a lead weight as I scanned the room for Hector. _Where the hell is he?_

"Unfortunately it was on the passenger side so Grace took the brunt of the impact." Bobby was eyeing me carefully as he relayed the news. "She's got some major damage to her right arm but they are repairing it as we speak and she'll be fine."

I felt myself nod but I didn't think I'd believe it until I saw her with my own eyes. "She's really okay," Stephanie assured me, placing a gentle hand on my arm. The warmth and truth in her blue eyes finally penetrated my brain but it still didn't tell me where the hell my husband was. Literally everyone I knew, with the exception of my Mother, who I assumed was watching my nephews, was in the waiting area but Hector was nowhere to be found. I brought my eyes back to Steph's face after another scan of the room and noticed a slight lift to the corners of her lips.

"He's outside with Ranger. When they wouldn't let him in the operating room he went a little ballistic and we didn't want him to get arrested..."

A breath left my lungs for what felt like the first time since Ram had called. "Where?"

"I'll take you," Bobby offered with a head tilt. We left the waiting area and headed for a corridor which led to the parking garage on the east side of the building.

"Is he okay?" I asked as we walked. "Did he hurt anyone?"

"A nurse may be slightly emotionally traumatized but Ranger kept it mostly contained. Hector did get a little banged up; dislocated his shoulder and there is a cut at his temple that needs stitches but he won't let me near him. Hopefully you will be more persuasive than I was."

I almost snorted out my response. "Yeah, right. Are we talking about the same Hector here?"

Bobby smiled. "I know but I'm worried about his shoulder. If it's bad, we shouldn't wait much longer to get it set."

"I'll try my best."

"Of course you will." He stopped in front of a metal exit door with one of those push release bars. "I don't want to end up eating a bullet or getting my throat slit so I'll wait for you here."

Normally I would say he was being dramatic, but not in this instance. We both knew exactly what Hector was capable of in his current state.

I pushed open the door and slid out into the damp night air. I located Hector wearing a groove in the asphalt and immediately felt the tension ease from my bones. He was up and walking and very much alive. I cut my eyes to the right and discovered Ranger leaning against the brick of the hospital wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes on Hector.

He gave me a nod but didn't move his gaze. "Your husband needs medical attention."

"So I heard. Thank you for…"

Ranger cut me off with a wave of his hand. "You'd do the same for me. Make sure he lets Bobby do his thing. We'll meet you inside." And then he vanished back into the building without a sound. I didn't even hear the door close.

Hector stopped his manic pacing and found my eyes in the low-lit glow emanating from the parking lot lamp posts. His right arm was tucked into his side, favoring that shoulder, and I could see the streak of blood on the side of his face. He definitely required medical attention but first I needed to hold him.

I crossed the space between us quickly and being careful of his injury, pulled him against my chest. "I don't think I've ever been more terrified," I whispered in his ear.

"I have," he replied and briefly touched the tattooed scar on my neck where a bullet had nearly taken me from him. "Is there anything new about Gracie?" His voice caught on her name and I tightened my grip around him.

"Still in surgery but they seem confident she is going to be fine."

"Yeah, they keep saying that but I won't believe it until I see her awake with my own eyes. I saw it…I saw it coming and tried to protect her…"

"Is that how you did this to your shoulder?" I was gently trying to poke around and see how badly it was dislocated.

"Probably. It happened so fast. I remember sticking my arm out but that's about it. The next thing I knew the ambulance and fire trucks were there and Grace was…"

"Okay," I soothed. "It's okay. She is going to be fine. And so will you but you gotta let Bobby get your shoulder back where it's supposed to be and this cut needs stitches."

"I know. But I don't want to do anything until they let me see her."

"Don't you think you should be cleaned up before _she_ sees _you_? This might freak her out if you can't move your arm to hug her."

His only response was to blow out some air and then fit his forehead into the curve of my neck. The warm breath skittered across my skin before he said, "I've missed you," and kissed me in the sensitive spot just below my ear.

"Me too and though this isn't the homecoming I was envisioning; I've been dying to see you." I'd been out at the_ farm_ for two weeks for Rangeman's mandatory annual weapons and training re-qualification course. Tomorrow was supposed to be my last test, but I was hoping I'd get a free pass, considering. Although knowing Ranger's strict protocol, I'd have to make it up at some point.

Hector extracted himself from my embrace and gently brushed his lips over mine before taking a breath and a step back. "Okay, how bad is the shoulder?" He turned sideways so I could put my hands on him.

"What's your pain level?" I asked as I moved my fingers around, feeling for the scapula, as Bobby had taught me. As I'd suspected by the way he was holding his arm, it seemed to be an anterior dislocation. Should be easy enough to push back into place but I'd need help.

He shot me a look at the question and lifted his unaffected shoulder. "Never mind, I forgot who I was talking to for a second. Can you even feel it at all?"

"A little, mostly when I try and move it."

I gave him a dimpled grin and kissed him. "I love you, you freak of nature. Can we go see Bobby and get this fixed?"

"Alright, but only if it's quick."

"A couple minutes, tops," I promised.

He followed me back into the hospital where we found Bobby and Ranger and Michael and Gabriel gathered just inside the exit door. The twins were standing close, speaking in low tones to Ranger, and Bobby was listening along the peripheral. All four sets of eyes found mine the second the door closed behind Hector.

"Any news on Grace?" He asked immediately.

"Not yet, brother," Gabriel said, while eyeing the trail of blood marring the side of Hector's face.

"It's probably going to be another hour or two before she's out of surgery," Bobby jumped in, sliding his eyes from mine to Hector's. "So while we wait…" He tapped the medical kit slung over his shoulder. "You ready?"

Hector nodded his assent and I let Bobby know my assessment. "I think it's just an anterior dislocation."

"Good, that will be quick, but we need to get you on a bed. I'll see if I can sweet-talk a nurse into letting us use an empty room." He disappeared around the corner and Hector asked what I'd been wondering myself.

"What happened to the asshole who hit us?" I recognized the tone in his voice because it sent a shiver down my spine. I slid my gaze to his face and found that hard, unyielding look in his eyes and I hoped whoever the guy was, they hadn't brought him to this hospital.

"He died in the ambulance on the way here," Ranger informed us and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good thing," Michael said darkly, sharing a nod with Hector. Yes, it was, or between those two, he'd never make it out of here alive.

Ranger opened his mouth but whatever he'd been about to say was stymied by the return of Bobby and a harried looking nurse pushing a gurney down the hallway.

"This is the best I can do," she said, "since you won't let us admit you." Her accusing and irritated glance at Hector went unnoticed by him and she rolled her eyes before leaving us on a huff of frustration.

"What's up with nurse cranky pants?" Gabe said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Apparently your flattery leaves much to be desired, Brown."

When Hector smiled, I knew everything was going to be fine.

We got him up on the gurney with the head of the bed at 90 degrees and his legs dangling over the side. He had to rest his unaffected shoulder against the upright portion of the bed and Bobby told him to relax his shoulder muscles while he moved behind him and grabbed my hands. "Okay, here's how it goes, feel that?" Together we located the scapula and then simultaneously pushed the tip medially and the acromion inferiorly using our thumbs. "Ranger," Bobby said and Ranger grabbed Hector's wrist with one hand and his flexed elbow with the other hand to exert the downward traction needed, and just like that, it was back in place.

"Well, that was easy," I commented.

"You didn't even flinch," Bobby said to Hector. "Can you feel anything?"

Hector rotated the now repaired shoulder a couple of times and lifted his arm in the air to stretch. "Not really but it's definitely better now."

Bobby shook his head. "You are not normal, my friend." He popped open his kit and extracted a packet of ibuprofen pills and a small bottle of water. "Take these and then every 4 hours for the next 24 to keep the inflammation down. Is there any way I can get you to wear a sling for a couple of weeks?"

Michael and I both made a sound which answered the question so Bobby sighed and took out a needle holder and a surgical suture packet. "Will you at least let me stitch that cut?"

He flicked his eyes to me and I nodded.

"I guess; if you think it's necessary."

"It is," Michael and Gabe said in unison.

Hector rolled his eyes but let Bobby clean and stitch the wound without further comment from anyone.

When he was all put back together, we made our way to the waiting room where we were immediately engulfed into Stephanie's arms, while the hospital security guard kept a wary eye on Hector.

Another hour passed while we waited. Some of them men rotated out and new ones came in as they changed shifts but the core of us remained. Hector was on the verge of losing it again when the surgeon finally arrived in the waiting room. The whole space went deathly quiet as he walked toward the intimidating group dressed all in black.

Hector and I stood and tried not to freak out at the grim expression on his weathered face. "Grace is doing well. We repaired the breaks in her arm with a plate and a few screws but she's young and it should heal nicely."

"Can we see her?" Hector asked immediately.

"She's on her way to recovery now, so yes, in a few minutes."

Everyone in the waiting room also stood at that declaration and the doctor was taken slightly taken aback. "Uh, just family."

"We _are_ her family," the whole group said as one.

He tugged at the mask still around his neck and ran a hand through the short silver hair covering his head. "Alright," he agreed on a sigh, after being faced with the sea of people staring him down. "But only two at a time; there isn't a lot of room back there. I'll send a nurse to retrieve you momentarily."

We said our thanks and a tiny little thing with excessively long, platinum hair came to get us ten minutes later. Her name was Charlotte but she immediately told us to call her Charlie and gave us an update as we weaved our way through the halls to the recovery area.

"Your daughter is just the cutest. She immediately asked for her Dads the second she woke up and then she asked which bones were broken and proceeded to name each one in the human arm, including all 27 in the hand so I'm guessing she's a little advanced for her age?"

"That's a bit of an understatement," I confessed and Hector just seemed relieved Gracie was talking.

Charlie nodded with a grin. "She runs circles around you, doesn't she?"

"More like marathons," I countered.

"Yeah, I bet. This way," she said, turning a corner and then she pulled back a curtain hiding a gurney and our mangled daughter. Hector stiffened next to me and squeezed my hand so tightly at the sight of her I thought he might break a couple of my fingers.

Her whole right side was one big bruise and I spotted multiple tiny cuts covering her face. There was an IV needle taped to her hand, an oxygen monitor on her finger and her dark hair was matted with blood but her whiskey eyes, so like Hector's, were wide open with relief at the sight of us

"Hi Dads," she greeted with a small grin but her voice was a little groggy and Hector's grip on my fingers increased.

"Hi Baby," he managed to say.

"I'm going to have a cast, isn't that cool? Do you think everyone will sign it?"

Hector was struggling to hold it together so I stepped in for him. "How could they not?" I replied. "I bet you won't even be able to see it after everyone is done." I pulled Hector towards her bed and he stumbled a bit behind me, not expecting the movement.

"You got stitches," she said to him when we reached her side. "Are you okay?" It was just like her to worry about everyone but herself and I thought Hector was going to lose it so I answered for him again.

"He's going to be fine and so are you and that's all we care about, right?"

"Yeah," she said slowly, "but I'm kinda tired, can we go home now?" Hector cut his eyes to the nurse and she shook her head.

"Not for a couple of days, at least. Sorry."

"Bummer. I don't like this bed; the bars are annoying."

It won't be for long, munchkin. There are some other people here to see you, are you up for some visits from your aunts and uncles?"

"Sure. Who's here?"

"Everyone," Hector answered, finally speaking to her. He bent down and kissed her cheek and whispered something in her ear I couldn't make out, which made her giggle, and then we left her to fetch the next round of visitors. It would take at least an hour for everyone to see her.

They kept her for three days and I only got Hector to go home twice during that time and only when Ranger or Tank was able to be with her. I was sure the hospital only sent her home because the constant rotation of scary looking men was intimidating everyone.

The nightmares started the second night after we brought her home. The screaming was terrifying and Hector had taken to sleeping with her each night – it seemed to be the only thing keeping the dreams at bay. If it went on much longer, we're going to have Dr Gunderson, the man who has been helping Michael through his PTSD, come to see her.

It was way past her bedtime when I left her room a half an hour ago after reading several chapters of Harry Potter with her for the bajillionth time. She was becoming quite the expert at extending story time before going to bed but we knew she was afraid to go to sleep so we didn't push the issue too much. Hector stayed, and I heard her doing a spot-on British accent as I headed down to clean up the kitchen.

When a brisk knock sounded on the door at half past 10, I was just finishing the last of the dishes and nearly dropped the plate I'd been drying. We never had visitors this late at night and it sent a trickle of dread down my spine.

I checked the security monitors and was genuinely surprised to see Tank's face staring back at me through the high-definition screen. He looked up at the camera above the porch and raised an eyebrow. After disengaging the locks and the floor bolts, I swung open the front door and got my second surprise of the night.

Sitting on the doormat, right next to Tank's colossal leg, was the biggest dog I'd ever seen. It looked like Tank's twin, in dog form. They even had the same blank expression on their faces.

"Hey, Tank. What brings you by?" I glanced down at the dog and it cocked its head as if trying to decipher what I'd said.

"Sorry for the late hour, traffic from Boston was a bitch."

"What's going on in Boston?"

"Nothing, I was picking up Brutus." Apparently, this was the dog's name as it stood on all fours and tilted its head up to Tank, waiting for instructions.

Tank sometimes was a lot like Hector, giving as little information as possible so I had to drag it out of him.

"Cool," I said. "But I thought you were a cat person."

"I am. I brought Brutus for Grace."

He didn't elaborate further and I looked down at the animal again. "I'm sorry, I must have misheard. You said you brought this dog, which is the size of a mini cooper, for my tiny little daughter?"

Tank grinned and told Brutus to sit. "You know the dog tag bakery Dallas helped Alice Mancuso start?"

"Sure, the one that helps returning and wounded veterans?"

"Yes, and now they've branched out into training dogs and other animals to be therapy pets. Brutus here is the first graduate. I thought he might be able to help Grace…"

"What's going on?" Hector's question cut Tank off and I glanced over my shoulder at my husband and daughter, heading toward the door.

"Uncle Tank!" Gracie squealed with delight at the sight of her _biggest_ fan and we watched her eyes widen with further delight when she got a look at Brutus. "And who is your friend?"

Hector reached for the collar of her pajama top to drag her back when she headed right for the massive dog but she was too quick for him. Without an ounce of fear, she patted Brutus on the head, which she didn't have to bend down to do, and he used his enormous tongue to kiss her cheek.

"His name is Brutus and I thought you could take care of him for me for a while."

"Seriously?" She glanced up at Hector with the big, hopeful eyes to which we could never say no. "This is perfect since these two are refusing to get me a baby brother. I can keep him, right?"

Hector really wanted to say no, I could tell by his body posture, but we all knew he wouldn't. "For now," he said instead and I could also tell by the smile stretching our daughter's cheeks, we would be keeping the dog indefinitely.

"Thank you, uncle Tank. I love him already!" She gestured for him to bend down so she could kiss his cheek and then spoke to her new companion. "C'mon Brutus," she said, taking the leash from Tank's hand. "Let's go see my room." Brutus immediately fell in step next to Grace and we all watched in wonder as they climbed the stairs together like it had been happening for years.

The faint smile on Tank's face faded under Hector's accusing stare. "You brought our daughter a dog without running it by us first? And is that even a dog? I've never seen one so big."

"It's definitely a dog. A Rottweiler and mastiff mix. He is big but also very gentle. Though, he is fiercely loyal and will be _very_ protective of Grace and probably the two of you as well. He's been fully trained at Dallas and Alice's new place as a therapy dog, but if it doesn't work out, I'll take him back to Boston…if you agree to give it a shot, at least for a few days."

I knew Hector wouldn't say no, and I definitely wasn't going to so it wasn't a surprise when he let out a sigh tinged with defeat. "You haven't left me much choice, Tank. We'll try it out but what the hell does the thing eat? He looks like he could devour an entire cow in just a couple of bites."

Tank tried not to smile but failed miserably. He'd come prepared and brought in bag a food which could probably feed twenty normal sized dogs for a month. He also left us with a basket full of chew toys and another leash before abandoning us completely with the monstrous dog.

When I came back from using the bathroom, I found my husband staring at the bag of dog food we'd deposited onto the kitchen floor, near the sliding glass door. I settled my hands over his hips and kissed the back of his neck. "You okay?"

"We should have reconsidered adopting to get her a little brother. The savings on food alone would be worth it," he mumbled while tilting his head back to give me better access to his neck.

I laughed and ran my tongue along his tattoo. "Yeah, probably, but let's see how it goes for a few days. You ready to go to bed?"

"I am if you're going to keep doing that to my neck."

"I'll do it any place you want. Let's go upstairs." I took his hand and tugged him up the stairs. We paused in front of Grace's door to see how the two new friends were getting along. The sight before us filled us with relief and the tiniest bit of anxiety.

Grace was sound asleep, and that was the relief part. She hadn't fallen asleep without Hector in her bed for weeks. Brutus was also on the bed, with his head resting on Grace's stomach and the rest of his body taking up the entirety of the remaining space of the mattress. The fact we were now dog owners was going to take some getting used to.

"Shit," Hector said on another sigh. "We're keeping him."

Brutus lifted his head and eyed us loitering in the doorway. He let out a little muffled snort, as if to let us know he had things covered, and then settled it back onto Grace.

"Looks like it," I agreed. "But let's try to concentrate on the positive, like you getting to sleep in _our_ bed tonight. With me."

"Hmm, that _is_ positive." He gave me the little half smile that never failed to get me hard. "What else?"

"Well, I plan on being naked a great deal of the night."

Hector's eye's drifted to the growing bulge in the front of my jeans. "You'll be naked _all _night," he clarified and headed for the master suite.

I quickly followed in his wake, hoping Brutus would keep Gracie asleep because Hector and I were apparently going to be very…_occupied._

* * *

_AN: Also thanks to **LilyGhost** for the Dog Tag Bakery idea. :)_


End file.

Janet Evanovich