Chapter 25

We all piled into the Ford Explorer and Tank cranked the engine over. Ranger and I sat side by side in the car. I met Tanks eyes in the rear-view mirror. "Where to?" He asked.

I felt Ranger tense next to me.

Ok, so my apartment was an option, but Ranger and I had a lot of unresolved stuff going on, running away to my apartment felt like a step back. 7 was nice, but I wasn't ready to face all of the men just yet. And the Batcave…well the Batcave was forever. Forever seemed like a long while, but Ranger had already made lots of promises, including his life before mine. That felt like a bigger deal to me than forever. Besides, Ranger had promised there was a swimming pool.

"The Batcave, Alfred." I said to Tank and I felt the tension ease out of Ranger. I guess that was the right answer.

I wasn't feeling especially talkative so I just snuggled into Ranger and zoned out. I was pretty tired. I'd been kidnapped in the afternoon sometime. Then there had been the rescue and the hospital. At some point between all that, night had fallen. I had no idea what time it was but I was suddenly feeling bone weary. The downer from the adrenaline, I thought. Dammit, I had other plans for tonight. Naked Plans. My body disagreed. I tried to stay awake but before I knew it, dreamland had taken me.

I awoke in a tumble of limbs and soft sheets. I was disorientated for a moment before I realised where I was. The Batcave, with Ranger. Literally with Ranger. I was snug against his chest and we were pressed limb to limb like we were limpets.

I tried not to make any sudden moves, Ranger was still sleeping. I checked the clock over his shoulder. 9am. Huh, guess Batman needed a lie in now and again too.

A call to nature was what had woken me. I tried to wait a little longer but at 9.30 I couldn't wait anymore. I slowly and carefully eased myself out of bed and found the bathroom. After I was done, I examined myself in the mirror. I was wearing white lace panties and a white tank top. You could make out the colour of my nipples through the tank top. Ranger must have dressed me for bedtime.

I looked the rest of myself over. My hair was wild. Slight bruises round my wrists. No other evidence of my ordeal. Box it away, Stephanie, I told myself. It's over now.

Hunger was roaring in my belly now too, I guess a donut as dinner yesterday hadn't really cut it. I needed real food. I tried to make myself presentable before I hunted down something to eat. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I didn't even bother trying to tame the hair, it needed a shower and some product. So I just tied it back for now. Feeling much better I slunk back to the bedroom.

Ranger was sitting up, watching me with a smile. "Good morning Babe."

I grinned at him, "it is? Isn't it! No psycho's after me, no car explosions, sexy man in bed. This is going to be a great day."

Ranger flashed me a huge grin, "damn straight."

"I need food." I said, "no dinner last night, I'm starving. What's the situation like out there?" I gestured with my head to outside the bedroom.

"Just us here Babe." Ranger reassured me.

"What about internal camera's?"

He blinked, "still on." He admitted. He reached over to his cell and called Rangeman. "You. Turn off internal monitoring at my place." He hung up.

Ranger climbed out of bed and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I'll grab a quick shower then make us something for breakfast. There's fruit out there if you're desperate."

I laughed a little at that. How well he knew me. I dug around and found a pair of jeans to pull on and then I wandered out.

As it turned out I was desperate enough for fruit. I ate a banana while the coffee was percolating. I doctored the coffee to my taste and sat at one of the barstools by the kitchen side.

Ranger came in dressed in light ripped up jeans and a black tank top. My mouth went dry. "yum." I said out loud.

He gave me an almost smile at that and came and stood close to me, turning the bar stool around and standing between my legs.

"Yum," he said to me.

He moved in and kissed me. Time had no meaning and my brain shut down. Everything in me was focussed on the moment. Except maybe my tummy which gave a huge embarrassing rumble mid kiss.

Ranger pulled away from me with a grin, "Better get you fed Babe."

He looked domesticated in the kitchen but it still felt a bit weird to watch him move round so confidently in a kitchen. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that he was excellent with knives. He chopped various vegetables in short order and before long he had made us each omelettes. I knew he loved me because he put cheese on mine. He ate his at kitchen whilst he continued to whip something up. Moments after my omelette was gone, a pancake took its place. Blueberries and banana's cooked into the fluffy pancake with honey drizzled over.

I cut into it and moaned at the first mouthful. "Marry me," I joked as I ate my way through three of the pancakes.

"One day." He replied, making me still.

"Really?" I finally said.

He nodded, "But I'll do the asking."

I grinned at that, "I can ask you if you want. It's a leap year next February. I can ask you on Feb 29th. It's in the rules."

He was smiling. "Maybe I'll ask you before that then."

"Maybe you will." I said cheekily, "maybe you won't."

Ranger moved in closer and licked a stray bit of honey from the side of my mouth. "Maybe I will." He whispered and he leaned down and gave me another bone melting kiss.

I made a happy noise. "I love you Ranger." I blinked, "I did it! I said it!" I hopped down off the stool and did a happy dance.

Ranger was laughing. He snagged me around the waist and pulled me into him. "I love you Babe."

I felt warm and happy. "This is great," I said, "I love you, you love me, no psycho's are after me. This is a great day."

Ranger was smiling all 200 watts at me. "This is Someday Babe, are you up for it?"

"Hell yeah!" I said jumping back into his arms. "We're going to do this," I said to him, "and it's going to be good." It was time to christen his bed, and after that, his sofa, maybe even the goddamn dining room table.

Ranger offered zero resistance as I dragged us towards his bedroom. Oh yeah! This was going to be so good.

Aw and that's PFE finally done. I didn't think I'd ever finish it so that's a really nice feeling. There is one more tiny idea in my head. I'm trying nowadays to only write ff which hasn't been done before. I've read A LOT of fanfic so trying to think of something that's worth adding to the pile is difficult. One last idea to try, a bit different to the others, I think it will still be relatively short though. Anyway, thanks for all the support. Reviews make me so happy!