Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sad times.

I apologize in advance for any times the characters are OOC. And also for the shortness of this story, cause I'm pretty sure it'll be shortish.

This whole fanfic is from Ranger's POV

Chapter 1

I walked into the bar where my skip was last seen. I stood in the doorway for a moment, letting my eyes adjust. Just as I spotted my skip and took a step towards him, someone else spotted me. Someone I definitely wasn't excited to see.

Morelli got up off the barstool he was sitting on and walked towards me. He was staggering slightly; enough that I knew he was drunk, but not so much that he was going to fall down. He glared at me as he reached me. "Manoso. What are you doing here?" His voice was loud and everyone, including my skip, was now staring at me. I figured that telling him my reason for being here wouldn't be a good plan, so I kept silent. I think he sort of expected that, because he just forged on ahead, his words slurring slightly. "Wanna know what I'm doing here? I'm drinking away my pain." He laughed, as though it was funny, yet the laugh sounded forced. "Wanna know why I'm in pain?" Not really, but he was sort of on a roll, with his drunken rambling, so I figured trying to stop him was more trouble than it was worth. I just assumed what I hoped was an interested look, although my attention was almost completely on my skip. "Cause Stephanie dumped me." Ok, now he actually had my attention. Sort of. But at the same time, this wasn't anything new, so I wasn't all that shocked. Frankly, I couldn't see why he was 'in pain.' If he sat around a few days, she'd go back to him. She always does. "For real this time. It's because of her stupid job. She says I'm not accepting enough. That I don't actually love her, or I wouldn't want to change her. Can you believe that crap?" Actually, I could, but I figured agreeing with Stephanie wouldn't get to the point of this little rant any sooner. I really wasn't sure why I was listening to it and didn't just go grab my skip. "Of course, you're not much better. I mean, you obviously only want her for sex." What? I snapped my attention back to him. I definitely wasn't following his train of thought.

"What?"

Morelli glared at me. "You! You're the actual reason she dumped me. She didn't say it, but I know it's true. Whenever she blows up a car, you're there. When I remind her that she shouldn't be a bounty hunter, she says I'm not supportive. And she doesn't say it, but I know she's thinking 'not like Ranger is.' And I'm tired of being compared to you anytime I say anything. Because, for whatever reason, you always come out on top. So you know what? You win! I give up. She's yours." He turned back to the bar and walked away from me. I just stood there, stunned for a moment.

Then, I was snapped out of it because my skip suddenly made the connection between Stephanie, bounty hunter, and me, and figured out who I was. He swore, loudly and fluently, and then pulled out a gun, fired at me once, and then ran. He missed me completely (and luckily, missed everyone else as well) so the bullet just imbedded itself in the door frame. I ran after him, pushing through the screaming people. I registered faintly that Morelli was laughing (apparently, the sight of me getting shot at was hilarious, or something), but ignored it. Figuring it would part the crowd a lot faster, I pulled out my gun. Sure enough, everyone parted, and the screams upped a little. I ran through the pathway created by the sight of my gun.

Behind me, Morelli yelled. "Hey! No guns!" Apparently, this didn't apply to him, however, as, when I glanced back briefly, he was pulling out his gun and chasing me.

This might have been funny, if it were someone else, but at the moment, the idea of being chased by a drunk cop who had a gun and was convinced that I'd stolen his girlfriend wasn't tempting me to laugh. I decided to ignore Morelli and followed my skip out the back door.

I heard the door open again behind me, and Morelli yelled again. "Stop! Police!" I ignored him completely. I was halfway through the alley behind the bar when Morelli fired a shot. Due to his drunken state, it missed completely. And, according to the small grunt of pain, followed by a thump, it hit my skip. I quickly reached my skip and looked down at him. Morelli had shot him in the leg. He was lying on the ground, tears running down his face (though he didn't make any noise), clutching his leg, and glaring at me.

I heard Morelli come up behind me. There was silence for a moment, then Morelli spoke. "Uh..." He looked at me, then the skip. "It wasn't me." I raised an eyebrow; that was a very Stephanie-like reaction. Not quite 'It's not my fault' but close.He ignored my expression, turned, and went back into the bar. I cuffed my skip, pulled him to his feet (or rather, to his foot, since he didn't want to put weight on the wounded leg. Understandable, I suppose.) and then helped him hop towards my truck. I loaded him into the back and drove to the police station, where I helped him hop in.

As I went to get my body reciept, the desk clerk looked at my skip, then at me. "How'd he get shot?"

I wasn't sure if I should say it was Morelli or not. I hated the man, but I wasn't sure Stephanie would be happy if he went to jail. Despite the fact that she'd dumped him, apparently for real this time, I knew she still liked him. Maybe as just a friend, but still, she wouldn't be too happy if I sent her friend to jail. "Some drunk guy at the bar pulled a gun."

My skip spoke up from the bench where he was seated. "It was some cop."

The desk clerk raised an eyebrow and looked at me, waiting for an explanation. I sighed. Whatever, hopefully Stephanie wouldn't care. "It was Morelli. He was drunk and shot him by accident." I saw that she'd finished writing the body reciept, so I leaned over and grabbed it, then walked out before she could ask any more questions.

I got into my truck and drove towards 'the Batcave.' It was late, and I could drop off the body reciept later. For now, I had a lot to think about.

A/N: Ok, sorry for two things. Firstly, that it is so ridiculously short. Second, that everyone is sort of out of character in this chapter. Probably, they won't be as bad later. I hope. Anyway, I don't think Morelli would ever actually get super drink, yell at Ranger in a bar, and then shoot Ranger in the back, but it was fun to write…so…yeah. Anyway, please review.