THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE, BUT I WISH THAT I COULD PLAY WITH THEM.
**THIS IS A CONVERSATION THAT ANYONE KNOW IS MILITARY, OR IS CLOSE TO MILITARY, WILL UNDERSTAND. THERE ARE SOME THINGS IN THIS WORLD THAT ARE BIGGER THAN RINGS AND WEDDING CAKE.**
ENJOY and REVIEW!
"MANOSO!" Joe Morelli strode across the police department parking lot a look of unbridled fury on his face. "You have gone too far this time, fucker!"
"Morelli." Ranger's calm tone seemed to infuriate the cop's rage even more.
"I can't fucking believe you!" He pushed Ranger's chest with two open palms. Ranger took a step back, but remained calm.
"Walking on thin ice, cop." Ranger's tone grew cold as he squared his shoulders.
"What the fuck is going on?" Stephanie shrieked, placing herself between Ranger and Morelli. They each stood at least half a head taller than her, and about a hundred pounds of weight more.
The Merry Men, as Stephanie calls Ranger's employees, were circling behind their boss hackles up. Hal, Cal, Tank, Lester and Bobby squared up behind Ranger and dared Morelli to strike first.
"You have some fucking nerve." Morelli began, running his hand through his hair messing the overgrown dark curls. "Pulling her into the alley at the office was bad enough, but this…." He growled and paced, hand on his hip.
"Morelli, what the fuck are you talking about?" Steph groaned, her hands flailing in true Italian form. "Have you been drinking?"
"I'm about to fucking start!" He shouted at her and she recoiled, hunching her shoulders. He sighed, at the sight, and his shoulders deflated. "I can't believe you would do this…I thought we had something. I thought…" He glared at Ranger. "You are a fucking dick, Manoso!"
"I have no idea what you are referring to." Ranger smirked, his eyes sparkling in enjoyment at Morelli's expense.
"You sure as fuck do know what I am referring to you arrogant mother fucker!" Morelli launched himself at Ranger swinging. Ranger, being…well…Ranger ducked his punch and quickly twisted Morelli's fist and shoved it between his shoulder blades. "This is a low blow…even for you."
"What are you talking about!?" Stephanie was screeching now, her hands balled in her hair, panicking at the sight before her. She and Joe have been in an on and off again relationship for quite some time now. Recently they have decided to date other people, but neither of them really expected the other to do it.
The pain and anger in Joe's eyes were devastating as Stephanie reached for Ranger's hand begging him to release him. Looking at the Merry Men for their support, she found that they too were just watching the whole thing in amusement.
"You two are acting ridiculous." She pulled at Ranger's hand. The moment that Joe was released, he swung again. This time he made contact. Mostly because Ranger had used his opportunity to deflect the punch by pushing Stephanie out of the way.
"You don't want to do this Morelli." Ranger growled, spitting blood onto the pavement.
A small crowd had gathered in the parking lot. Cops filed out of the building and stood transfixed at the men. Money exchanged hands; bets had been made about when the two of them would finally snap.
"You should have thought of that before you decided to stake your claim." Morelli ground out as the two of them sparred, getting heavy hits in to one another about as much as they deflected. "Putting a damned ring on her finger wouldn't have been this bad."
"You let her go, Asshole." Ranger seethed as another of Morelli's hit caught him in the side. Ranger reached forward and flipped him; the loud thud on the pavement was echoed by the groans of the spectators. That had to hurt. He strattled Morelli, landing punch after punch to his sides. "I wasn't going to sit around and wait for her to change her mind."
"Knocking her up wouldn't have been this permanent." Morelli twisted out of Ranger's grasp and they wrestled spitting out vulgar insults.
"Do you guys know what the hell they are talking about?" Stephanie had given up stopping the fight and decided to just stand and wait for the fire in them to die down.
"No clue." Tank said ever the talkative one.
"Must have been something big." Lester winced as Morelli's punch caught Ranger in the jaw. "That man is pissed off."
"If something happened it is news to me." She shrugged and began walking towards her car. "Men are such Neanderthals."
The Merry Men continued to watch, wincing and cheering as strikes hit either opponent. They didn't notice Stephanie walking up behind them with two bottles of water. She rounded them, unscrewed both the caps and unceremoniously dumped both bottles over the scrapping men. They sputtered and pushed away from each other.
"What the fuck, Cupcake?" Morelli was the first to gather his wits enough to acknowledge what she had done.
"Babe."
"You two are acting like a couple of ten year old boys." She ground out, hands firmly planted on her hips.
"He started it." Ranger chuckled and pointed at Morelli, who swatted away his hand and raised his fist to punch him.
"Don't even think about it." She growled, tossing the now empty bottles on the ground in front of them. "Get up!"
They slowly raised themselves to their feet, wincing and hobbling on new injuries. They stood feet away from each other, glaring.
"Now, what the fuck is going on?" Once again she stood in her pose, Wonder Woman style, with a top notch Burg death glare aimed directly at them. The Merry Men giggled, but she silenced them with a single finger. "Don't piss me off, Boys."
"Cupcake...I can't believe you accepted it." Morelli, finding his voice again, admitted. "I thought that we were just on a break."
"We ARE on a break." She groaned again, wiping her hand down her face. "I don't have a clue what you think I did."
She turned to Ranger, who now sported something that can be only described as a Cheshire Grin. His arms were crossed against his chest, and he was sporting a bloody lip and a rapidly blackening eye.
"Ranger man…what did you do?" Tank asked, breaking the silence. Stephanie wasn't the only one who wanted to know.
"Seriously, like you don't know." Morelli reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He tapped a few times, pulling up his Facebook. "That." He handed it to Stephanie and pointed at his phone. "A little warning would have been nice."
Stephanie looked at down at the phone. There, on the screen, was a post she made last night.
"WATCHING MOVIES WITH RANGER. GHOSTBUSTERS III"
"I don't get it." She said shaking her head.
"What is around you?" His voice was thick with emotion.
"A blanket?" Her eyebrows rose, confusion plastered over her face.
"No fucking way." Lester gasped, leaning over her shoulder to get a better look. "Boss?"
The rest of the Merry Men hurried over and looked. They stood staring, mouths agape.
"You guys are fucking with me, right?" She laughed nervously. "It's a blanket. We were watching a movie. Look fully clothed."
"Where'd you get it?" Morelli spoke again, his voice still thick with emotion. She looked at the picture, at Ranger and then at Joe. "He gave it to you, didn't he?"
"Uhhh…yeah."
"Damn, Carlos. That's some deep shit right there." Tank smiled and held out his fist for Ranger to bump.
"Can someone explain please?"
"Yeah!" Said someone from the crowd. "We're fucking lost."
"I gave you my woobie." Ranger smiled a full 200 watt smile.
"Holy shit, no way!" Big Dog, who was standing by the door exclaimed, followed by a ripple of other exclamations from the crowd.
"Okay, I get it. I'm being punked." Steph handed back Joe's phone and threw her hands in the air. "I give up. I surrender. Come out, come out wherever you are!"
"Babe." Ranger shook his head chuckling. "You aren't being punked."
"What the fuck is a woobie?" She wailed, her arms once again waving around. "You have given me fucking cars! CARS, Ranger…and people haven't acted like this."
"A woobie is a very special thing." He shrugged.
"What…the…FUCK…is a woobie!?"
"Beautiful." Lester chuckled, pulling her under his arm. "A woobie is a poncho liner. When you get it, it's not a big deal. Standard issue." He smiled. "But when you are in the shit…it's the only piece of comfort you have. It keeps you warm and dry when your entire life is in the shitter. That "Blanket", as you call it, has been with Ranger since basic training. He has brought it everywhere he has been. It's saved his life more times than any man, weapon or machine every has or will."
Stephanie stood mouth agape listening, the pieces falling together.
"You don't just give anyone your woobie." He continued. "Marriage comes and goes. Friends die or fall out. But your woobie is forever."
"But…it's a…"
"It means way more than that." Lester smiled and hugged her. "He gave you something that is more a piece of him than anything."
"It means, Cupcake." Morelli's voice broke. "It means that you are his. He is yours."
"Ranger?" She looked to him, seeing the answers in his eyes before he even opened his mouth.
"Babe."
She rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. They kissed passionately, and even Morelli was in awe at the love that you see and feel just watching them together. Dejected and heartbroken, Morelli staggered off towards the station. Big Dog and Carl wrapped a supportive arm around him and helped him in.
"Never thought I would see this." Tank smiled, rocking back on his heels.
"Woobies are forever, man." Bobby said, wiping a tear from his eyes.
"Bitch." Tank chuckled, punching him solidly on his shoulder.
"Fuck off, Tank." Bobby laughed, punching him back. "Woobies are something to fuck with."
"True dat."
***Woobies are a serious deal. If you don't know what one is, the your life will never reach full nirvana. LOL. I hope that you enjoyed this story. It came to me as I was purchasing gear during an acclimation. REVIEW!***