Stephanie twirled around in her computer chair, randomly catching her toe on the ground to stop, then pushed off to spin the other way. Leaning her head back, she called out in a sing-song voice "Are you ready yet? I'm not getting any younger in here wait-ting!"

The bumps and thuds from the bedroom were her only reply. Closing her eyes and sighing, Steph stopped her spins and leaned forward to try and see what was taking so long in the next room. "Is there a problem? Do I need to come in and supervise?"

A couple of muffled curses were followed with a resounding "NO!"

Covering her mouth with her hands to stifle her laughter, Steph quietly got up with her cell phone in hand and tiptoed towards the bedroom door. Just outside, she brought up the camera and was ready for action. She quickly moved into the door frame and snagged some rapid fire camera shots.

"Babe!" and "Jeez, Steph!" came echoing loudly out of the bedroom, as Stephanie collapsed into a heap of giggles while holding her side.

Steph couldn't leave well enough alone. "Aw, come on, guys. Surely two big bad-assed bounty hunters like you two are secure enough in their masculinity to handle this." She managed to get out between giggles.

She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing as the aforementioned big bad-assed bounty hunters slowly emerged from the bedroom. A half choking sound came out of Stephanie's mouth as she took in the sight before her. There in front of her stood the man of her dreams and his second in command, both with a white cloth draped around their bottoms like a huge diaper, with a pair of big white fluffy wings pinned to the back of their skin tight black T shirts. Tank picked up the tiny bow and arrow set that was leaning against the wall, holding it in front of him much like he was holding a rabid skunk, while Ranger leaned against the door frame scowling.

"I…uh….I'm. I'm just…" She couldn't help but break into another fit of giggles. Ranger glared at her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Alright, alright. I got this. I am just….so…..freakin' impressed that you two would do this to bring in the FTA. But, a black t-shirt? I don't think the last time I checked on Cupid's attire that black t-shirts were in the description." Not able to hold it together any longer, she started snickering into her hand.

Ranger actually sighed and rolled his eyes. "A necessary deviation, babe. Where else are the wings going to get pinned to?"

The FTA Stephanie was referring to was George Barnes. He was wanted for murder and assault, and would clear seven hundred thousand dollars for Rangeman. Barnes was known to be violent and always carried a gun on him. The original plan was to have Stephanie dress as Cupid to attend a single's Valentine's Day dance, catch the man's attention and lure him outside for the Merry Men to apprehend. Unfortunately, new intel came to light that Stephanie was not Barnes' type. Rather, Ranger was more his type. Ranger couldn't send in Lester as the distraction, since he was on light duty due to a broken leg. The plan was to have two people pose as a couple having a lover's spat, but none of his other men could be convinced to step up to the plate, so to speak.

"So, Ranger, where exactly are you going to hide your handcuffs and gun?" Steph asked, faking innocence while batting her eyes at him.

That brought a smug smirk to his face. "I told you, I don't need them to enslave a woman, and I'm betting the same would apply to this…..situation. Those arrow tips are actually little syringes filled with a special compound Hector called his Valentine's Day Special. He said it was a blend of a tranquilizer and truth serum. Tank will put them in the tranquilizer gun that will be waiting outside."

Stephanie frowned at that. "But, why use the truth serum? Wont the tranquilizer knock the guy out before he can confess?"

Ranger walked over to Steph and put his hands on her shoulders, leaning in to the point they were almost nose to nose, staring into each other's eyes. "That's the beauty of Hector's special blend," he said softly. "It causes temporary amnesia that disappears about 15 minutes after the tranquilizer wears off and the tranquilizer will wear off before the effects of the truth serum take effect. We'll have this guy's ass in custody and down at the precinct just in time for him to tell the right people exactly what he did, so they won't bond him out again."

Stephanie batted her eyes at him again. "Just as long as you get his ass before he gets yours, right?"

This caused Ranger to grimace and shudder at that thought. "Babe. There's only one ass that holds my attention and his isn't it."

Tank raised his eyebrows in amusement as he watched the heat and sparks shooting between his best friend and Steph. He almost shook his head as he wondered what it was going to take for the two of them to get their shit together and realize they loved each other, since every other person within fifty miles of them could see it. He had hoped that the original plan to have Steph dress in the Cupid outfit would spur Ranger into a fit of jealousy and make him step up and claim his woman, but that plan obviously wasn't going to happen now. Problem was, both were miserable when they weren't together, and made everyone else miserable without realizing it. Everybody was ready for this dancing around each other to stop.

Tank cleared his throat. "Little Girl, you gonna stand there laughing at us, or are you ready to get this show on the road?"

Ranger and Steph stepped apart with a jerk, looking away from each other. Girding his mental loins, Ranger adjusted his costume, and watched as Tank slung the quiver of arrows over his shoulder. He picked up his keys from the silver tray and scrambled the video feed from the cameras outside of the elevator. "Babe, let's just go and get this over."

-To Be Continued-