They're not mine and I'm not making any money.

CHAPTER 1

"No, you will not 'bust a cap in his ass'," I stated firmly to Lula before we knocked on the skips door.

"But this guy's wily, ya know? He's gotten away three times…at least let me stun him."

"Look where you are," I said, sweeping my arm around to indicate our surroundings. "He lives in a retirement complex. You can't stun him, what if he has a pace maker or something?"

"Hunh, you think you'd learn to be more fun what with working with Batman and his crew of hotties," complained Lula.

"Nope, but that reminds me, I only get an hour for lunch so lets grab this guy," I said before Lula could fixate on 'Batman' before moving on to 'Supercop' since I wasn't ready to tell her it was over with me and 'Supercop'. Shit, I forgot I wasn't thinking about the incident. To sidetrack Lula, I asked how she wanted to do this. I knew how excited she got that she was in charge now.

Amazingly enough, once I got Lula focused on the job, the apprehension went smoothly. We were able to subdue the 76 year old skip, get him to the police station, and get him processed without mishap. We even did it in time to have me back at my desk five minutes before my lunch was over.

I had just enough time to grab a turkey sandwich in the break-room before facing my in-box which, regrettably, hadn't magically emptied in the time I was gone. I parked myself in my comfy, leather rolly chair and began flipping through the files. As expected most of them were from Rodriguez, but I found one for Tank and decided to start with that. It was the least I could do for getting him blown up, breaking his leg and stranding him. We had become friends since I was working at Rangeman and I wasn't afraid of him amymore, but I still felt bad about that stuff.

This was just a routine background check on a potential client to see what skeletons he had in his closet before Rangeman would do business with him. This may sound boring, but Rangeman has some clients that are interesting, to say the least, and ferreting out someone's deep, dark secrets is a national past time in the burg. Pair that with what the guys call my 'spidey sense' and some quasi legal computer programs and I'm excelling at a job I love.

I finished Tank's search, one for Lester, and three for Rodriguez when I felt the buzz of energy and the tingle on my neck that told me Ranger was nearby. Sure enough, moments later I felt a warm hand settle on the base of my neck.

"Babe."

"Yeah, Ranger," I replied, not looking up from the screen.

"It's seven o'clock, you should have gone home long ago. Wouldn't want to worry Morelli," he said with a slight grimace. Ranger knew Morelli got angry when I would work late, what he didn't know was that Morelli and I were over as of last week. For good this time.

"Not a problem anymore," I said in a low voice.

"Babe?"

"We broke up," I stated simply.

"Again?" was Ranger's light answer before he saw the tears that had filled my eyes when I remembered how it had ended. So much for not thinking about it. "Hey. Do you want to talk about it? Why don't you come up to the 7th floor for dinner?"

I had to ponder that for maybe half a second before agreeing. It really wasn't a hard decision. Ranger would have a delicious meal prepared by Ella, his wonderful housekeeper, while I would have a can of soup warmed in the microwave. All I had to do was confess my breakup with Morelli, and to be honest I knew I had to talk to someone. Ranger wouldn't press me for details and wouldn't pity me, so I figured he was as good as anyone.

"Okay," I said, taking the hand he offered to pull me out of my chair.

"I'll meet you up there in about 15, I need to check in with control. Can you call Ella and let her know to bring dinner for two?"

"Sure," I replied as we arrived at the elevator.

"Thanks, Babe. See you in a few," he said giving me a peck on the head that sent shivers to my toes and everywhere in between.

I climbed into the elevator and got a last glimpse of Ranger before the doors slid shut. I allowed myself a few moments to consider his amazing backside before I had to hit the little button on my key fob that would allow me access to the 7th floor

Once in the apartment I walked to the intercom and had a stare-down with it. I still wasn't quite comfortable using it or calling Ella for food.

"Hello?...Ella?" I finally asked timidly while holding down the key for the 6th floor.

"Yes?" answered Ella's soft voice.

"Oh. Hi. This is Stephanie," I blurted.

"Hello, dear. How can I help you?"

"Um…I'm having dinner with Ranger and he asked me to let you know…He'll be up here soon."

"Alright. Will dinner in a half an hour be good then?"

"Yes. That would be great," I said, suddenly relieved to have successfully ordered dinner.

"I'll bring it up then."

"Okay, thank you," and I let go of the button and told myself to breath in and out.

With that done, I settled into Ranger's extremely comfortable couch and must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew Ranger was gently shaking me awake.

"Babe, Ella just left dinner. Time to get up and eat."

"Mmmph," was all I could manage, as I pulled myself up off the couch.

"Come on," he said with a chuckle as he placed a hand on my waist to steer me to the kitchen. "Maybe you'll wake up when you see the surprise Ella sent."

"Surprise?" I asked as we got to the table and I saw a beautiful slice of chocolate cake. I love Ella.

"Seems Ella missed cooking for you."

"I've missed her cooking."

"Then lets eat. Then we can talk."

"If we must," I said, knowing Ranger would know I was only referring to the chat part.

"Babe."

After that we were silent for the remainder of the meal. Ranger was in his hyper observant zen state and I was trying really hard not to moan with every bite. Ella had made chicken beasts in a light cream and mushroom sauce, steamed green beans and some sort of funny rice. Now this is way more healthy than I normally like, but Ella is a food genius and it was too delicious not to eat.

Then came the cake, I took one bite and it was beyond decadent and I let out a soft moan. After the second bite, though, I was beginning to believe my mother's declaration that I was a recovered cakeaholic. I had this gorgeous slice of cake, but here I was eyeing the mixed fruit in front of Ranger. Finally, I reached out and snagged a strawberry then looked up to meet Ranger's eyes when I couldn't suppress a small moan. He just smiled and we slowly worked our way through the fruit.

"Babe?" he asked when we were done.

"Sorry," I said with an apologetic grin. "I guess I didn't tell you my mother declared me over my cake habit. It's been about two weeks since I've craved it at all."

"Who would have thought it?" he asked shaking his head. "Come on, Babe. Lets head to the living room."

"Alright," I agreed knowing there was no way out of this.

Once we were settled safely on opposite sides of the couch I looked over at Ranger to see him patiently waiting for me to start in with my story. Okay, I thought taking a deep breath, might as well start at the beginning.

"Well, I should probably start this three weeks ago," I said, pausing to give Ranger a moment to realize what three weeks ago was.

"The Stiva thing?" he asked.

"Yeah, things really went downhill from there," I began in a flat voice. "That night Joe and I had a huge fight with the normal, we yelled, cursed, and traded Italian hand gestures and eventually calling it quits for the night. The next morning things were tense, to put it mildly. We both went off to work and when I got back to the house he was there and we were just gearing up for round two when his pager went off. A break had come through on a case he was working with the Philly PD and he had to go out of town…that night. The next morning was Saturday, and I took the opportunity to move back to my apartment. Two weeks went by without a call from Joe and then he showed up at my door."

Here I stopped for another deep breath and looked up at Ranger, he hadn't interrupted and had been watching me intently. He seemed to know that the hard part of the story was coming and reached out and pulled me onto his lap to wait for me to continue.

"I had a fresh bruise on my jaw from sparring with Tank earlier in the day and Morelli took one look at me and said 'what the Hell happened to your face' so I told him I was getting self defense lessons and he just asked when I was ever going to give up. I yelled that it wasn't going to happen and then he said something about coming to his senses. I asked what he meant by that. That's when he told me he met someone else while he was in Philly."

I had to stop here and take another break. I felt Ranger's arms tighten around my middle and I snuggled into his chest taking comfort in his warmth. One more deep breath and I knew I could finish the story.

"He told me we were over. He doesn't want to see me any more, not even as friends, so he can be with her. Her father and brother are both cops, so she'll get that he's the job. On top of that, she's perfect apparently and he's transferring there to be near her. She wants a family, her family is Italian, and she's a freaking Home Ec teacher. She's everything he always wanted me to be," and this was where I broke into wrenching sobs, crying tears I hadn't let fall since Morelli told me his news.

"Shhhh, Babe. It's gonna be alright," Ranger said holding me to his chest.

"I know," I sobbed. "I'd figured we weren't going to work, but the way he ended it hurt more than I thought it would. I haven't told anyone else, all the Burg knows is we had another fight and I doubt Joe's had the balls to tell anyone yet."

"He's an idiot, Babe. I'm just sorry it took me a week to see that you're hurting. You're doing great, not letting what he did throw off your life, but you didn't have to do it alone."

"I just didn't want to tell anyone, they'd all be sorry for me. Everyone thought Joe was my last hope for a normal relationship. I wish they would realize I don't even want that 'normal' relationship. Now, I'm just glad I didn't let Joe trap me into it."

"Proud of you, Babe," Ranger murmured into my hair as he continued to hold me close.

We stayed like that as Ranger waited for the remainder of my tears to dry up. I may not regret the ending of my relationship with Joe, but the way he chose to end it sure hurt like Hell. I felt so unwanted and I hated that first Dickie and now Joe had made me feel that way. It meant a lot to me right then to hear Ranger tell me he was proud of me, so I snuggled in and enjoyed the feeling of him.

The next thing I knew I was waking up with my bed moving. Closer inspection showed that it was actually Ranger moving and we were still on the couch with me curled up against his chest.

"Hmmm?" I asked.

"Morning, Babe," came the soft reply into my hair.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, wondering when it had become morning.

"Five."

"Ungh," I said burrowing my head into his shoulder and trying to go back to sleep.

"Babe, I gotta get up and go for a run. Feel free to go back to sleep and I'll order breakfast when I get back."

"Mmmm," was all I could manage before I felt Ranger lifting me and then settling me back on the couch after freeing himself.

I let myself drift back into a deep sleep, snuggling my face into a Ranger scented pillow. I came awake again to a soft shaking of my shoulder and noticed the smell of Bulgari had gotten stronger. I figured Ranger was back and waking me up for breakfast, so I decided to open my eyes.

"Morning again, Babe."

"Morning?" I said.

"Eight o'clock," Ranger replied with a smile, knowing I was asking if it was my definition of morning yet.

"Mmmkay," I managed, as I pulled myself to a sitting position.

"Why don't you head to the bathroom and by the time you're out breakfast will be here."

"That sounds good," I said with a sleepy smile, and headed for Ranger's amazing bathroom.

For having spent the night with Ranger I was amazingly calm. All we had done was sleep, cuddled up on the couch, but normally that kind of nearness to Ranger would have left me all flustered. Well, I thought with satisfaction, at least now I don't have to worry about Morelli guilt when I have a Ranger induced lust attack. Thoughts of Morelli offered an excuse for denial, I was just getting more comfortable with Ranger. He was still a badass and dangerous, but I was coming to accept that and as I did my fear of him disappeared.

Stepping into the shower my mind flashed back to the night Morelli ended things between us. My talk with Ranger seemed to have opened a floodgate and all of the pain I had holed up for a week was coming out. I started sobbing in the shower, glad no one could hear me, as I replayed the conversation.

"Uh oh," I said to myself, when I looked through my peephole to see a pissed off looking Joe Morelli. "Guess he wants to pick up where we left off."

"Joe," I said opening the door.

"What the hell happened to your face?" he bit out when he saw me, not bothering with a hello.

"Sparring," I said simply. "I started self defense training at Rangeman."

"Shit. You mean you're really still doing that?"

"Yes, Joe," I said, trying to answer calmly. "I told you I wasn't quitting."

"Well, at least now I don't have to feel bad about finally coming to my senses then."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, getting a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"I met someone else while in Philly," he said. "And I'm transferring there."

"What," I choked out, not sure I had heard him correctly.

"Steph, try not to freak out over this. We weren't working. You want to be the walking disaster known as the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. Jen wants the same things I do," he said with a small smile growing on his lips. "She wants a family and a home. Plus she's a nice Italian Catholic girl who actually goes to mass and she's a Home Ec teacher. She wants to be a housewife and she'll get along my mother and Grandma Bella better than you ever did."

I just stared at Joe for a long moment trying to comprehend what he had just told me. I felt like I was in shock when all of a sudden it hit me that he was ending us for good. I felt numb, like I had been dunked in ice water.

"Okay Joe," I said in a deceptively composed voice. "I get that you met some great girl, you don't have to rationalize it to me. Enjoy Philly; I guess I'll see you around. Can you show yourself to the door? I'm going to bed."

"No, Steph," he said when I had turned my back to him. "You won't be seeing me. I think it's best if we don't see each other at all. Not even as friends. Goodbye Stephanie."

With that he walked out of my apartment and I went to bed like I had said. By making use of my talent for denial I fell quickly asleep, woke the next morning and continued in my routine as if nothing had happened. I hadn't seen him since.

And the denial had been going great, I thought, until Ranger had to go and break through the walls I had put up to pretend everything was okay. What am I going to do now?

I knew I had to accept what Joe did and I was finding that easier than I thought possible. For now I decided to enjoy Ranger's shower gel and amazing shower then go have a wonderful breakfast prepared by Ella with the one man, besides my father, I know I can count on.

With that settled on I lathered up one more time with Bulgari gel before climbing out of the shower. It only took a minute to brush my teeth with a new tooth brush I found on the sink and run some gel through my hair. I figured I had enough makeup in my purse to do a decent job on my face. I walked into Ranger's closet and grabbed the Rangeman uniform I had there and was ready for the day.

"Babe," Ranger said without looking up from the file he was reading as I walked into the kitchen.

"Ranger," I said, plopping myself on a stool and snagging a bagel and some cream cheese. The routine was surprisingly comfortable, considering I had only ever lived with him for a few days.

"How you feeling today?" he asked, putting the file aside.

"Okay. Better now that I let the feelings over Joe out."

"That's good. I talked to your boss, and he says it's okay if you take the day," Ranger said with his half smile.

"Can you tell him I'll be okay working? I talked with a good friend and I'm feeling better than I did all last week."

"Can do," he replied with a full smile this time.

"Thanks."

Twenty minutes later Ranger and I were in the elevator on our way to the control room. I was standing a safe distance from him, thinking we had already given the guys enough free shows thanks to the cameras all over the office when I had a thought.

"Shit!"

"What, Babe?" Ranger asked with a note of concern.

"Just realized how this looks."

"How's that?" he asked, with a hint of the wolf grin now.

"Ranger!"

"It'll be okay. All that happened was dinner and you fell asleep on my couch."

"I fell asleep on you."

"True, but still on the couch," he said, before mumbling something.

"What's that?" I asked. Ranger never mumbles.

"I said 'the guys already had their fun with me when I came back from my run'."

"Oh," was all I could manage before the elevator doors slid open.

Ranger and I went in separate directions, him to his office and me to my cubicle. I settled in at my desk and had worked my way through three searches when Bobby came by to drop off a new search.

"Hey, Bomber," he said.

"Hi, Bobby."

"Can you have that back to me by three?" he asked.

"Sure."

"So…you and the boss…," he said with a grin.

"Bobby" I groaned, the guys had already gotten to Ranger, but I knew it had been too good to be true that there would be no teasing. Now I just had to pray that I didn't hear about any bets about what had taken place.

"Don't worry, Bombshell. We know nothing happened," Bobby said calmingly, apparently knowing where my thoughts had turned. "None of the guys but Tank, Lester and I would say anything and I'm pretty sure none of them are stupid enough to bet on Ranger."

"Thanks Bobby," I said, glad I didn't have to worry about that. Lately, I found myself forgetting that Ranger's pretty scary and even the guys working here thought so.

Later, Bomber," I hear and Bobby was gone.

Then I was back to work…for about ten minutes. I decided I needed a snack, that's why I couldn't concentrate. I headed to the break room and found Ranger and Tank in badass mode, looking like they were all ready for a takedown.

"Babe."

"Bombshell."

"Hey, Ranger, Tank," I replied to their greetings. "You going after some bad guys?"

"Yep. Oliver Fellows," Ranger answered as they started out of the room.

"Try not to get shot," I said, to let Ranger know to be careful.

"Will do. Try not to get too crazy," he said when he got to where I was standing and gave one of my curls a tug.

Then they were gone and I headed back to my desk with my apple and water bottle. I really had been spending too much time here, I decided, looking down at my chosen snack.

After that the day flew by. Before I knew it I heard a grumble from my stomach and looked at the clock to see it was 5:30 and decided to head home. I hadn't seen Ranger since my snack, but it wasn't unusual for him to spend the day in the field. Packing up my desk I made sure to grab my gun as I shut down my computer and headed to the elevator.

Once back at my building I parked next to the dumpster and debated the stairs, thinking I didn't get enough exercise sitting behind a desk but decided on the elevator instead. On the ride to the second floor I overheard bad news from two of my senior neighbors.

"So, where are you moving?" Mrs. King was asking.

"My kids are putting me in a retirement home," Mr. Woleski answered sadly.

"That's too bad. Seems a bunch of people are ending up there now that this building's being made into offices."

"Yeah, and only giving us a month warning that they're kicking us out," Mr. Woleski said shaking his head.

My brain was whirling when the elevator doors opened and I hurried into my apartment. I remembered a letter coming from the building management, but I had thrown it on my pile of things to deal with, assuming it was about the yearly renewal of my. Looking at the letter however, I saw that it was really notifying all tenants that the building was being converted into an office building and that all tenants had to be out by the end of the month. Shit! That's only six days, I thought.

I was in the first stages of panic when my stomach rumbled again and I knew I couldn't do anything on an empty stomach. Once I had eaten I felt better, I was no longer in shock and I could think about what to do now. With that in mind I lay down on my bed in my thinking position, but thinking turned into sleeping before I came to any conclusions.

This is my first story, so any feedback is more than welcome…