A/N: I'm just gonna start out with something short for now. Maybe in the future I'll post some longer stuff, but for now; please enjoy the quickies and review!!! ;)

Oh, and ya'll know the usual stuff. They're not mine

OBS! Not very friendly towards Joe…

September When

Yet again I was stuck at a stakeout. It's not exactly my idea of a good time, but the cash was good, and I sure needed cash. Plus I got to spend several hours in the same car with a super-hot man, so it's not exactly bad either, except for the whole "you can look, but not touch" principle. I really wouldn't mind touching.

"Maybe we can arrange something for later, babe. Right now we got to keep an eye on the bar".

Fuck. I felt my face flame up and shrunk low in my seat. From the corner of my eye I saw Ranger picking up the binoculars and peek out the window, trying to hide his smug grin.

"I might be going out of town for a few days", Ranger said after a couple of minutes. I turned my head and looked at him. This was unusual. Normally I would hear from Connie or maybe Tank when he was going into the wind, he rarely told me himself.

"Ok," I said, lacking a better answer.

"If something comes up you call Tank".

When I didn't answer he turned and looked at me. All traces of the grin he'd worn just a minute ago were gone, and a serious, strict look had replaced it.

I reached out my hand and touched his arm, "Is something wrong?"

He took my hand, bringing it up to his lips and brushed a soft kiss over my knuckles. His other hand moved to the base of my neck bringing me closer to him. He placed another kiss on my forehead, before resting his against mine. "It's just something I have to deal with," he whispered softly.

He was looking into my eyes, and his eyes were filled with compassion, sorrow and something else I couldn't quite place. We stayed like that, our foreheads touching, looking into each others eyes, for what felt like hours, although it couldn't have been more than just a few seconds. Everything outside the car had disappeared; the only thing that existed was the two us. "When do you have to go?" I asked softly.

"In the morning," came his soft reply.

"Stay with me tonight?" I had no idea why I just asked him of that. It was not unusual for him to go away on short notice for an unknown number of days. But something in the air told me that this time it was different. His whole demeanour was shrieking that something was wrong. I felt a compelling need to comfort him, be there for him. He nodded and pulled away for me. As he started backing out of the lot I remembered the outside world again.

"What about the skip?" I asked.

"Lester and Bobby have replaced us" he said, pointing over to a black SUV parked a few cars behind us.

"Oh". That's me, ever so eloquent. Ranger reached over the consol and grabbed my hand. He gave it a little squeeze before he placed our combined hands on his thigh. I spent the ride back to my apartment studying Ranger. I hadn't noticed earlier in the evening, but he wasn't looking too good. The corners of his eyes were crinkled, he looked tired and pale. He was trying to keep his blank mask, but every now and then it would slip a little, and when it did he looked distraught. That more than anything, worried me a lot.

He parked the car and looked over at me. He gave me a small smile before he got out and in a flash he was by my side and holding the car door for me. He slung his arm around my shoulder as we walked up to my building, and even took the elevator with me.

"Do you want a bottle of water?" I asked when we entered my apartment. He shook his head. "I'm just going to grab one for me then, I'll be right back". I went into the kitchen and over to the fridge. I opened it and bent down, searching it for something good. I was wondering about a beer when I felt to hands slide around my waist. I jerked up right and slammed into Ranger. "Babe," he said, and tightened his grip around me, bringing me closer. He buried his face in my neck and breathed me in. "I wish I could just stay here," he mumbled.

"Then do," I answered back as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I wish," he whispered again with a shudder. I turned in his arms and brought my arms around his waist, holding him to me.

"You want to tell me what's wrong? You can tell me anything you know," I said softly. He tightened his hold on me even more; it was like he was afraid I would slip out of his arms. Then he kissed my temple and whispered softly, "My mother died today".

I didn't know what to say. What do you say to someone who just lost their mother? Is there anything you can say? I stepped back from our embrace far enough so I could get my hand up and cup his face. I let my thumb stroke his cheek as I looked into his eyes. They were filled with sorrow and grief, and I would have given anything to take away his pain. Instead I did the only thing I could think of, I tipped up on my toes and gave him a soft, comforting kiss. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.

He gave a slight nod and was about to say something else when a voice boomed "What the hell is going on in here?"

I looked toward the entrance to the kitchen and saw Morelli. Fuck.

I kissed Ranger on his cheek, "I'm sorry, will you sit on a couch for a second? I'm just going to have a quick chat with Joe, ok?" He nodded and went into the living room.

"What the hell was that Stephanie? How long has this been going on?" Morelli started shouting and waving his arms.

"Joe, please don't start. It's not what it seems like at all."

"What it seems like? Do you know what that looked like? It looked like he was your fucking boyfriend. And there's nothing wrong with that picture, except for the fact that it supposed to me who's your boyfriend. Or do you have two? How fucking long have you been at this?"

For the sake of Ranger I was trying not to blow up, but Joe was making it pretty damn hard. "Lower you voice, please. Last time I checked you were my boyfriend, and Ranger was just my friend, a friend who right now is going to a very rough time, and who needs me. There's nothing more to it than that."

"You kiss all your friends like that Steph? Are going to give him some comfort sex too?" He walked up to me and grabbed the front of my shirt, bringing me up to his face, "You're my girlfriend, and I don't fucking want you throwing yourself on other men!" Then he pushed me hard against the counter. I lost my balance and fell to the floor. On my way down I got caught on the knobs of the kitchen drawers, and they left a nice rift that hurt like hell.

"Step away from her, Morelli," came Rangers voice from the doorway.

"You stay the hell out of this, Mañoso" Joe replied in a deadly low voice. In the blink of an eye Ranger had pushed Joe up against the wall and was pointing a gun at Morelli. "Get the hell out of here, before I fucking shoot you." Ranger's voice was low and dangerous. He was staring Joe straight in the eyes, and if looks could kill then Joe would have been dead and buried by now. Joe on the other hand, didn't seem to notice.

"Are you threatening a police officer, Mañoso? Sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't make threats. Only promises," was Ranger's cold reply. Joe shot a look my way before his eyes settled on Rangers again. After a minute he nodded, and Ranger let him go. "This is not over, Steph", he said.

"I think it is, Joe" I said from my place on the floor. Joe looked like he wanted to say something else, but after one look at Ranger he walked out, slamming the door.

"I'm so sorry Ranger. I know this was not what you needed." I said trying to get up from the floor without wincing. Of course, Ranger noticed right away.

"Let me see your back", he said, moving towards me.

"That's not necessary…" I started to say, but he had already lifted my shirt and had me standing in my bra as he inspected my back.

"God damn motherfucker" I heard him mumbled as he took in the sight of my back. "Go lie on the bed Babe, I got a salve I want to put on this so it'll heal faster". I nodded and moved into the bedroom and lied down on the bed on my stomach. I knew better than to argue with Ranger when it came to these things. A moment later I felt the bed dip and then my bra popped open. "What …"

"Better access babe," I could hear the smile in his voice and didn't comment it further. At least he was smiling. I hissed as he began to put on the salve. It stung like a bitch. "Sorry babe, but it'll be better after". I nodded and put my fist in my mouth. He finished putting on the salve and kissed my shoulder. "I should get going" he said.

"Now?" I asked.

"Yea" he answered.

I turned my head and looked at him, "Sure you can't stay the night?" He nodded. "Take me with you?" He just looked at me. "Why?" he finally asked.

"Because I love you and I want to be there for you" I answered, my gaze never wavering from his. It was amazing that I manage to stay calm. I had just told the man I loved him. The man who has made it perfectly clear that there could never be a future between us and therefore probably didn't want me blabbering love confessions. He raised his hand and placed it on my cheek, then leaned forward and gave me a soft kiss.

"I love you too. It would help me a lot if you were there." He answered softly. My face broke into a smile and a small one appeared on his too. "Give me a sec. to pack and I'll be ready to go" I told him.

"No, stay. You should let the salve get to work on your back before you move. I'll pack the necessary." He said, moving out of the bed. I simply nodded.

*

I must have nodded off, because next time I woke I was sitting in Rangers lap, in something I would describe as a private plane. That jerked me up into an upright position.

"Relax Babe" Ranger said, and started rubbing circles up and down my arm. "How's your back?"

I wiggled around a little to get a feel of my back. "Not to bad, it's sore and stings a little, but much better than I expected it to be". He nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Try to get some more sleep Babe. It's a long flight, and it's still night time" he said.

"No can do" I answered. "I have to stay awake and make sure we stay in the air". Ranger gave a faint smile and tugged on a curl, before he turned away, staring out into space. The rest of the flight we spent in silence, with him just holding me.

*

"When's the funeral?" I could hear someone asking somewhere in the house.

We had arrived at Ranger's grandparent's home in Miami and his whole family had gathered there. From the conversations fleeting around, I learned that Juanita, Ranger's mother, had died from leukaemia at an age of 51. Her body was brought down to Miami because it had always felt more like home than Newark ever did. Most of the conversations happened in Spanish, but sometimes they drifted over to English, and I ended up snapping up some information. No one really talked to me, but I didn't expect them to. They were here to grief and share their sorrow with the rest of the family. Not chitchat with me. I stayed close to Ranger the whole time, and we were always physically touching each other in one way or another. When it started getting late, most of the house had mostly emptied. Those who were left were Ranger's father, grandparents, him and me.

"It'll be a long day tomorrow. I guess we should try and get some sleep" Ranger's father, Carlos, said. He stood in the middle of the living room, looking like a lost child, not sure what to do next. Ranger moved from where he had been holding me, and embraced his father. As he did his grandmother guided me to the kitchen.

"Let's give them some privacy" she said. When we got to the kitchen she motioned for me to sit. "It's good you're here. It means a lot for Carlito".

"Ranger?" I asked, not quite sure who Carlito would be. She nodded.

"You need to stay close to him. He needs the love of his life now more than ever," she said, looking at me knowingly. I was not about to argue with this woman, so I simply nodded. I reached out my hand and touched hers.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." She covered my hand with her other, and gave me a sad smile. "Thank you" she said. Two arms came around me from behind and a kiss settled at the base of my neck. "You ready to go to bed?" Ranger asked me. I nodded and gave a small smile. We said good night to Ranger's grandparents and went off up to the second storey.

We entered a room that looked nearly the way I expected. It was decorated in the same fashion as the rest of the house but here and there was some details that said that a teenage boy had lived here.

"It used to be my room when I lived here for awhile" Ranger said. I nodded and smiled. Seemed like I had been doing that a lot today, but words didn't seem to matter much today. Presence and action spoke a lot more. We took turns in the bathroom and slipped into bed. Ranger took a look at my back before letting me settle down, and applied some more of the salve. It was healing nicely, but Ranger still uttered some creative words of Morelli's fate.

"Promise you won't do anything to Joe. He didn't mean to do this, he was just shook up" I asked as we settled for the night.

"Are you defending him? Has he ever done anything like this before?" I could see Ranger was getting worked up, and that was the last thing he needed right now.

"No, I'm not. It wasn't right of him to do it, but he has never done anything like that before and it will never happen again. If you really want to punish him for doing this, than just imagine how bad it stings for him that I'm here with you, and not with him." When he didn't say anything I placed a soft kiss on his lips and laid my head on his chest.

"How are you holding up?" I asked.

"Good I guess, considering the circumstances. I'm more worried about my father." He answered. I nodded. No one had looked too good today, but his father had been out of it all day, and I was seriously worried for him myself. "I'm afraid he's not going to make it through this".

"Don't think like that. This is hard on all of you, but I believe you will make it through this. Just from today I learned something amazing about your family, and that is that you all care immensely about each other and you will not stand by and let one of your loved ones crumble. Your father will be surrounded by the love and support of the entire family, and that will help him through this horrible time. Same way it will help all of you."

Ranger placed his hand under my chin and lifted my head so he could look me in the eyes. "Thank you," he whispered. Then he leaned down and kissed me softly. "Thank you for coming here with me. I don't know what I would have done with out you here tonight. I truly love you Stephanie" he told me.

"I love you too."

A/N

Thank you for reading, I really hope you liked it. Please Oh Please review! It will keep me writing ;)