Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing.

Prologue

Stephanie leaned back comfortably into the large body that had come to stand immediately behind her. Ranger dropped a companionable hand onto her shoulder and stared straight at Connie over her head as she continued, "Are you ready to face Christmas Future?"

Connie remembered Abruzzi and Anton Ward, and tried hard to suppress a whimper as she looked back at him.

o0o0o0o0o

The silence stretched out as Ranger stared at Connie, and she thought that her chest might explode with the tension.

Finally he spoke. "I'll put it in terms that your family would understand, Connie. You have insulted me. You have damaged a reputation that I built and that I rely on to keep my people safe. And you have embarrassed Stephanie. What happens between me and Steph is between us, no-one else. I don't care how bored you are working for the pervert; you crossed a line. I know you're connected, but if it suits me to exact retribution, don't think for a second that that will stop me."

Connie caught her breath.

"But the prospect of a war doesn't suit me. I've worked hard to take my business legitimate, and I have no intention of throwing that away over a rhyme and a few cartoons."

She breathed again, feeling her legs tremble as she released the tension in muscles that she didn't know she had tensed. Too soon, as it turned out.

"But you will pay. You, Connie, not your boss and not your family. It's time for us to make a deal."

Stephanie's eyes flashed, and Connie watched his hand tighten on her shoulder, holding her in her chair.

"There were ten cartoons in your little masterpiece. You will perform one task for RangeMan for each of those cartoons. Some of those tasks would normally have been Stephanie's, so you undertaking them will go some way to discharging the debt that you owe to her, as well as to me. No-one in my organization questions my instructions, so while you are working for RangeMan you will not question the reasons for those tasks, you will just perform them quickly, efficiently and to the best of your abilities. Do we have a deal?"

"But I don't even…"

"Do we have a deal, Connie?"

She sagged in her chair.

"We have a deal."

o0o0o0o

Stephanie leaned back in the passenger seat of the Turbo and slid a sideways glance at Ranger.

"Another deal for you to collect on? You son of a bitch."

"Has to be this way."

"She didn't mean any harm."

His voice was hard, implacable. "She wanted excitement? Maybe it's time she experienced some. Because she needs to be seen to pay a price for crossing me. You should know how this works. Remember your little gang-banger? Why do you think he talked once you brought me in?"

"But she's my friend."

"She should have thought about that when she was watching you on camera in the alley."

"But this is Connie we're talking about!"

"Doesn't matter."

Stephanie turned in her seat to fully face him as he drove. "I want this to stop."

"Too late, Babe."

"I won't let you hurt her."

He pulled the Turbo to the side of the road, and turned to face her. "So what are you prepared to do to stop me?"

When she replied there was a slight tremor in her voice. "What do I have to do?"

Ranger reached out and gently stroked the side of her face with his index finger. "I don't plan to hurt her, but you know that our work isn't risk free. I do intend to make her regret ever setting pen to paper about us, and nothing will stop me doing that." He gave her a predatory grin, "But I'm open to a side deal if you want to help your friend."

He turned back to the wheel and pulled the car out into the traffic again. "Start thinking about it, and we'll talk terms when we get to my apartment."

o0o0o0o

When they got to the seventh floor apartment Stephanie opted for a stool at the breakfast bar where she could face Ranger, hoping that being able to see his face would help her negotiate. If he was serious about this, she needed to be too.

He followed her in and took the other stool, facing her calmly, not giving anything away.

"Are we serious about this?" she asked.

"Deadly."

"I'm sure there's a rule that you can only make one deal with the Devil in your lifetime. If not, there should be."

"Was the last one so bad?"

She winced. "That's debatable."

"And one day we'll have that debate, but right now I'll tell you what I'm offering and what I want from you."

She braced herself. "Go on."

"You can't stop Connie's payback, you can't do it for her and you can't do it with her. She fucked up, she gets to deal with the consequences. I will tell you in advance what it will be and give you a chance to brief her and support her so that she can do it better."

"And what do you want?"

"Come back to RangeMan, to me."

"But Vinnie…"

"Will not be hung out to dry. Like I said, she pays, not her boss and not her family. You still catch your skips, but you report to me, not to Vinnie. RangeMan will take the low level skips as well for as long as you stay. You will be armed, and if I assign you back-up you will accept with good grace. I won't ask you not to hurt them, we both know how that one works."

She thought about it. "That's all you want from me?"

"That's all. What were you expecting?"

"Not that."

"You really don't get it, do you? When Connie turned Shakespeare she messed with my reputation. That reputation, and the perception in certain quarters that you are my woman, keeps you safe. That means she has put you at risk, so she pays. If your misguided desire to protect her gives me a chance to keep you safer, I'll take it. If it keeps you closer to me, hell yes, I'll take it. But she still pays."

"Not good enough. I want more."

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I want more assurance that she won't be put in unnecessary danger."

"No unnecessary danger, but if the job is high risk, she still does it. For you, if it will stop you worrying, I will put a man on her for protection when she's on a high risk job, but she won't know about it. I want her scared."

"Then we have a deal."