Author's Note: All of the character's belong to JE. No one belongs to me. If Ranger did, I'd never leave the house again.
Also, a bit rusty so forgive me for the cliché story lines until I get up to scratch. Total Babe. Beware my undying romantic side.
Miranda Rights
The shrill ringing of the telephone woke me from a deep sleep, dragging me away from memories of warm Hawaiian sands and warmer Cuban hands. I blew out a frustrated breath. I can't catch a break. The universe won't even allow me to enjoy sleep nookie with Batman!
Reaching out for the offending object, I answered on a growl. "What?"
"Bomber!" Came the far too cheerful response.
"What do you want Bobby? It's…" I checked the clock. "Christ, it's 3 in the damn morning."
"We've got a little situation we need a hand with." From the way that Bobby stumbled all over the word 'situation', I'm guessing it had involved a lot of alcohol. I didn't think I'd ever seen the Merry Men drink. I wonder what the special occasion was because Bobby was three sheets to the wind.
"Get on with it, Bobby."
"We're at the police station." There was the sounds of a scuffle and Bobby complaining loudly before he came back on the line. "Jesus, I'm handling it Santos. Listen Steph, we need you to come down and bail Ranger out. They won't let us on account of Lester being drunk."
That had my attention. I sat bolt upright and reached for the light, already hunting for clothes. "What happened?"
Lester had obviously succeeded in wrestling the phone from Bobby because his equally slurred voice now drifted down the line. "What happened is your fiancé is kind of a dick so Ranger…"
"What fiancé? What are you talking about?"
"Joe, your fiancé? You know, tall, Italian, hairy…"
"Lester, Joe and I aren't engaged." This can't be good.
"Well, fuck…" The line fell silent for a moment before Bobby returned.
"Listen Steph, just get down here before all hell breaks loose."
"I'm coming but Bobby, tell me what the hell happened!" I was through my front door and moving fast.
"Ranger may or may not have got the wrong end of the stick about some gossip making the rounds and…he may have knckdJoeout." Bobby mumbled. Too bad I was the queen of the mumbled admission in high school.
"He knocked him out! How? Why?" I crammed myself behind the wheel of my car and hit speaker phone.
"We ran into him…and well, Ranger…he was already pretty drunk and he got into it with Morelli and he just sort of lost it. I guess it's been a long time coming."
"Jesus, Bobby, I'm five minutes away." I hung up the phone and banged my head against the steering wheel. This could not be happening.
As I motored through town, breaking many a traffic law, I contemplated what I knew. Obviously the Burg had heard about Morelli's newest proposal attempt. Well, they had the attempt part right but not the answer. Joe and I had broken up amidst yelling and smashing plates sometime between the first and third quarter of the Rangers' game. Truth didn't seem to matter too much on the Burg grapevine though.
So, Ranger got the wrong end of the stick and he and Joe got into it. But why? They may not like each other but up to this point, they had maintained an uneasy treaty. What could have broken it? And why was Ranger drunk? Was it in response to my engagement? I instantly discarded that as the ramblings of a complete fantasist. It was unbelievable enough that someone as controlled as Ranger had been intoxicated at all, let alone because of a woman. More specifically, this woman.
I screeched into the police parking lot like a woman possessed. When I stepped (ran) into the station, the sight that met me was like something out of The Twilight Zone. The three main Merry Men were locked in some kind of staring contest with Eddie Gazarra, Carl Constanza and Big Dog. Typically this would have been a reason for the TPD to feel a little nervous only in this instance, Lester was sitting cross-legged on the floor, Tank was leaning heavily on the desk invading Eddie's personal space and Bobby was just sort of swaying gently in the breeze. When I entered, 6 pairs of eyes landed on me.
"Bomber!" Bobby called, opening his arms wide to me. Despite myself, I gave him a quick hug.
"Okay, so what's going on?" I directed this towards Eddie since I was probably more likely to get a sober response.
"Morelli wants Ranger processed for assaulting an officer." Eddie explained, shooting Tank a sideways look. "He's over at St Francis getting a CT right now. He's fine though." He said, anticipating my question.
"Was Morelli on the clock?" Eddie shook his head. "Was he in uniform?" Again, the head shake. "Was he there…where? Where did all this happen?"
"The Hilton." Bobby supplied helpfully. Oh boy!
"The Hilton…like the Hilton Hilton? Costs two hundred bucks a night Hilton?" Bobby nodded. "Was he at the Hilton in an official capacity?" Head shake. "So what was he doing there?" Suddenly, everyone from the TPD to the Merry Men was looking real shifty. "What am I missing?"
"Morelli decided to celebrate your engagement…" Bobby began.
"We're not engaged." I cut in as a reflex.
"Good thing too because I don't think you would have liked the company he was keeping." Lester blurted from his position on the floor. Everyone froze.
"What?" I stuttered, hearing bells clanging in my head. I mean yeah, we were broken up and I was seriously thinking it was for good this time but we only split 7 hours ago. That was quick work, even for Joe.
Tank sighed and took a step forward, moving away from his intimidation routine. "We were in the back bar drinking when Joe walked through the lobby wrapped around some woman. Honest, I've never seen Ranger move so quickly. He was across the lobby like a shot, holding Joe against the wall." Tank explained, wrapping an arm around me and guiding me over to the bench. "He started yelling at Joe about stepping out on you and then Joe…Joe said something about Ranger picking up his sloppy seconds and Ranger took him down with one shot."
"He's lucky too." Lester interjected. "Because Ranger was out for blood. It took all three of us to pull him off and by that time, these fools showed up." He hiked a finger at the TPD.
I bent my head down between my knees and took a few deep breaths, praying the earth would stop spinning. When I could see straight again, I raised my head and looked into Tank's sympathetic face. "Where is he?"
"Morelli?"
"Morelli can kiss my ass. Where's Ranger?" I growled.
"In holding." Eddie pipped up.
"I want to see him."
"Steph, I can't just…"
I was across the room and in his face before he had time to finish. "I want to see him, Eddie. Now. Or so help me god, I'll tell Shell about that time in college when you…" Eddie was on the other side of the desk with his hand over my mouth in a heartbeat. I stared him down until, with a sigh, he peeled his hand away from my face and led me back to the cells.
There in the first cell, back to the wall, sat my Batman. His eyes were closed and he was doing some kind of deep breathing exercise. Probably he should have considered that before he decked a cop but I couldn't be cross. He was trying to protect me. Just like always.
"Hey." I called softly. His eyes snapped open and he turned his head slowly to look at me.
"Hey." That was it.
"Heard you got yourself in a little trouble." I tried again.
"He had it coming." Ranger stood carefully and moved towards me. He wasn't swaying in the breeze like Bobby but his normal cat-like grace was absent.
"You shouldn't have done that Ranger. You could be in for big problems here." I whispered, reaching out to stroke his cheek. He moved closer, trapping my hand between his cheek and his palm.
"Had to Babe. He has to understand that you deserve better than that, particularly if he's going to marry you." This was said with a sad shake of his head.
"I'm not marrying him. I was never marrying him. The Burg got it wrong."
"You will one day Babe." Batman looked like someone had shot his puppy. "When you do, he needs to know to behave."
My jaw fell open. Did he really believe that? "Didn't you hear me? I said no. I said no before any of this and I'm certainly not changing my mind now!" I all but shrieked.
"Why is this time any different?" Ranger asked, his eyes burning a hole through me.
"Oh, I don't know. Could be because he stepped out on me? Could be because what we want is completely incompatible? Could be that I don't want to be his wife?" I rolled my eyes.
"Why?" Because I want to be yours. The thought leapt into my head out of nowhere and I clamped my lips firmly together to stop it tumbling out of my mouth.
Oh no! Not happening. Not here. Not now. Particularly not when he was in this condition.
"Why don't we deal with the business of getting you out of here for now?" I replied after a moment. He continued to stare me down for a few long seconds before he gave a curt nod. "Eddie said that Joe wasn't at the Hilton on police business. Can he claim assault on an officer if he was off duty?"
"No. I've got my lawyer working on it already. And there's something else…" I gestured for him to go on. "I'm fairly certain he was with a working girl. I've seen her on Stark."
"Wait, that son of a bitch proposes to me over Pino's pizza and a ball game and the hooker gets a trip to the Hilton?" Colour me insulted! I took a deep breath. "So, what do we do with that information?"
"Thomas is fairly sure that we'll be able to get him to drop the charges to avoid embarrassment. For now, we just wait."
"For what?"
"Babe, it's four in the morning. I'll have to wait for the courts to open so that they can process me."
"So what do we do in the mean time?"
"You should go home and get some sleep. I'm sorry the guys called you down."
I didn't want him to be sorry. I wanted him to want me here. "What was the occasion?" Apparently, my mouth had a mind of its own today. Ranger quirked an eyebrow. "Why were you guys out drinking? Celebrating?"
"Mourning."
"Did…did someone…are the guys alright?" I stuttered, feeling the blood drain from my face. "What…"
Ranger reached out quickly to steady me. "No, Babe, nothing like that." I couldn't hear him. The tears had started quickly and they were coming thick and fast. I heard him bite out a curse. "Eddie, open this fucking cell."
"Ranger, I can't just…"
"Open the cell Eddie. I'm not coming out. She's coming in." He growled. To his credit, Eddie's hands only shook a little as he placed the key in the lock and pushed open the cell door.
Ranger swept me into his arms and settled on the bunk, nodding his thanks at Eddie. "Babe, all the men are fine. I promise. I…" He wet his lips and stared a hole through the wall in front of him. "I thought you'd said yes. I thought this time that was it. You were lost to me. So me and the guys we…"
"Mourned?" I hiccupped.
"We knew that when you married, he wouldn't let you keep coming around. We knew that ring meant you were lost to us. So yeah, we mourned." He murmured. If only Ranger was this chatty when he was sober.
I turned my face into his neck and inhaled deeply. Bulgari and just a hint of whisky. Even drunk, Ranger was a walking temptation. "He could never make me stay away from you." I whispered. "He's tried but I…I can't do it." If I was lucky, he wouldn't remember either of our verbal incontinence in the morning.
"Why?"
"Because you're my best friend. And the guys, they're like family." He tightened his arms around me. "I would have picked you." I added.
Ranger swallowed and looked down at me, touching my bottom lip with his index finger. "But you never did." His voice was hoarse with emotion and there were so many emotions running across his face that I couldn't keep track. Yup, this was The Twilight Zone alright.
Okay Steph, time to put on your big girl pants and take a chance. "You never told me it was an option."
"It's always been an option. From that first day in the café."
"What are you saying?"
"Pick me." He murmured before kissing me sweetly on the lips.
The sound of a door being thrown open tore Ranger's lips from mine and both of our heads swung towards the bars where a pissed off looking Joe Juniak was glowering at a sheepish Eddie. "Jesus, Gazarra, have you even heard of policy?"
"Uncle Joe!" I cried, running up to the bars. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you kidding? In the last hour, I've received more phone calls regarding this cluster fuck than I want to count. One from your father." He growled, patting me tenderly on the cheek.
"Daddy? But why?"
"Apparently Edna was out with her cronies and she saw the whole thing. She raced home to tell your family. Helen is having a fit and Frank says if I don't get his future son-in-law out of jail in the next ten minutes, I'm banned from Friday night poker." He looked beyond me to Ranger. "You going to let Frank down, young man?" Son-in-law? WTF? Had my father been drinking too?
"Not a chance." His voice was like steel.
With a nod, Juniak held out his hand for the keys. "Tomorrow morning, when he's released from hospital, I will be having a long conversation with Officer Morelli about abuse of power and the dangers of making the wrong enemies." I cringed at the demotion but hey, he deserved it. "No formal charges will be placed. You're both free to go."
Ranger placed a warm hand on the back of my neck and steered me out of the cell. I placed a kiss on Uncle Joe's cheek and whispered a thank you before allowing Ranger to guide me back into the reception area.
All three Merry Men were lined up on the bench, watching the door. When we emerged, they gave a drunken cheer before being silenced by a look from their leader.
"Come on guys, I'll drive you all home."
"Hey, Bomber." Bobby said sheepishly. "Can we go through the drive-thru on the way back to RangeMan? Getting arrested makes me hungry." I heard Ranger sigh but he made no other objections.
"Sure thing Bobby." I loaded the guys into the back seat, which was quite a feat considering their size. When I shut the door, Ranger was standing behind me looking uncertain. I didn't think I'd ever recover from the constant hits of vulnerable, drunk Ranger. He was breaking my heart.
Stepping towards him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head against his chest. "I'll always pick you." I whispered. His arms came around me like steel bands crushing me to him and he took my mouth in a hot, ardent kiss so intense that I could barely hear the Merry Men hooting and hollering in the background.
Lester stuck his head out of the window. "Come on mom and dad, the kids are getting restless!"