Author's Note

This was inspired by James Blunt's 'Postcards'

All mistakes are my own!

Enjoy

Three months ago my babe broke it off with the cop, two and a half months ago she won, 500k at the Bellagio in Vegas and two months ago my Steph and Lula quit their jobs at Vinnie's and left for a trip to Europe.

Flashback

"Babe, please" I almost beg her.

"Fine…but you have to promise me something in return!" Steph retorts and the look on her face tells me I won't like what will come out of her mouth next.

"Go on" I nod.

"I will take these trackers, if you promise me to not access them until there is a reason to" I was right. I don't like that one bit, but I know I am on the loosing end here. She won't agree to take the trackers, unless I do as she asks.

"I promise" I answer and her eyes grow wide and a triumphal smile appears on her lips.

"You are just going to agree with this?" She questions carefully and I don't blame her.

"I am a man of my word. When did I ever break a promise?" I question and step a little closer towards her. We are in her apartment and she was just packing her backpack, as I let myself in. For once she is the one leaving and I am left behind.

"Never" She breathes out as I step even closer, until our faces are just inches apart.

"And I will keep this one too. But now you have to promise me something too" I tell her and pull her into me. "I want you to promise to find a way to tell me that you are okay. You said you didn't want to take a laptop or a smart phone, so find away to let me know that you are safe!"

"I promise" She agrees and my lips crush onto hers. I pour everything I can into that kiss, before we have to pull away as the need to breathe becomes to big.

I hand her a bag containing cat boots, a necklace, a belt and small earrings. "These all have trackers in them. You always have to have two in the vicinity of each other. Otherwise the alarms at Rangemen go off. Okay?" I get a no and add "Want to grab some dinner before I leave?"

"Pinos?" She questions with a small smile. "They do have twigs and barks there too."

"The temple is on a break today" I reply and pull her in for another kiss.

End of flashback

I dropped her off that evening, wished her a good trip and kissed her senseless on her doorstep. After she broke it off with Morelli, Steph and I spend more time together, but we always kept it PG.

I was actually the first one she seeked out as she won that money. Together we made plans what she could do with it. Since Tank is good with money, I send Babe to him to invest some of it. A big part went into a bank account, for when she gets back. Babe also gave some to her parents and grandmother and the rest will be burned on the trip.

Steph wanted to see where her ancestors came from and Lula never left the States, so she tagged along.

I haven't talked to her since she left and I miss her more everyday. But about a month and a half ago Postcards started to arrive.

The first one was from Naples. It only said 'We made it'. The next one arrived a week later from Rome, stating 'We ate our weight in pizza and pasta, but have yet to get enough of it. Italy is AWESOME'.

They guys put up a Map of Europe in the break room, where they can stick the postcards on. She never discloses where they will go next, so the guys have opened up a betting pool from where the next postcards will be. Since I don't allow the betting for money, they bet for the next monitor shift or who gets to clean the Rangemen car fleet.

The next one's were from Florence and Milan. 'Amazed that our credit cards are not maxed out yet. Sending home a big package of shoes and clothes. P.s: Tell Tank to make more room in his closet for Lula' it said on the one from Milan, to which Tank groaned and muttered something of needing to move his gun collection.

And then last week we got two postcards, one for me, personally and one for the guys. They were from Verona and mine said 'From Verona with Love'.

Now here I am sitting at my desk, waiting for the next postcard to arrive. It is Friday and we haven't gotten a postcard in nine days. Nine long ass days. And everyday I wait for the call from the front desk that a new one arrived.

I am getting antsy. I miss her and I want to talk to her, make sure that she is safe. And I am not the only one. With everyday that passes without a postcard the guys on the fifth floor get more quiet.

I look at the paper mountain on my desk and roll my eyes. Tank keeps on piling it on my desk, to keep me busy. Multiple times I reached for my Computer mouse to bring up her trackers, but I always pull back again, as I remind myself that I promised her to not do that.

My office phone rings suddenly, bringing me out of my thoughts. I pick up with a standard "Report."

"They are here!" Is all Hal says, before hanging up on me. I immediately jump out of my seat, causing the chair to hit the wall behind me. With a few quick strides, I am out of my seat and run down the stairs to the front desk.

Tank is already there holding his postcard, from Lula and Hal hands me mine as soon as I come to a stop in front of the desk. This one is from Venice and I laugh as I read what my babe wrote.

'Have you been here? If not maybe someday we can come back here, because they have the best ice cream I have ever tasted. My life is complete, I can die a happy woman now!

P.s: We got pizza in a small restaurant, where the chef had a snoopy tattoo and looked kinda dodgy, the pizza was spicy and to die for.

: Really want to do a boat race ala the Italian job!' Will you be my Mark Wahlberg?

Tank looks at me with a smile of his own. "Until now they haven't found any trouble, how long do you reckon, they will take to find some?"

"With their luck?" I say with a small smirk " It won't take much longer!" And a 12 hours later I regret that I said that.

My phone rings in the middle in the night and I pick up without as much as a glance at the Caller ID. "Yo"

"Yo, I found Darren Mitchel for you" My Babe's voice rings though phone and it takes me a moment to realize what she is saying, before I start laughing. Darren Mitchel is a Arms and Drug Dealer. Vinnie bonded him out, for 2 Million Dollars. We weren't able to find him. All our contacts came up with nothing.

"I am sorry Babe. How?" I question as I get myself under control again.

"Ran into him at Octoberfest. Took me a minute to realize who I was standing in front off" She replies with a huff.

"Where is he now?" I ask as I get out of bed and pull on some pants.

"Gagged and tight to a chair in our hotel room" She replies quietly. "I don't know what to do with him now."

"Tell him about what he did!" Lula calls out from the background.

"What did he do Babe?" If he laid a hand on either one of them, I will kill him. Screw the money Rangemen will get, by handing him over to the feds, I will make sure his body is never to be found.

"He sprayed Lula with pepper spray, tripped her so that she face planted it onto the gravel and set my purse on fire" Steph answers reluctantly.

"Trouble really finds you anywhere, huh?" I pull on my shirt and slip into my cat boots on my way out of my apartment.

"Unfortunately…" She huffs out and I smile.

"Babe, are you able to keep him contained?" I ask and step onto the fifth floor. The guys on night shift are immediately standing in attention and I motion for them to follow me into the monitor room.

"He isn't going anywhere" Babe answers me.

"Good. I will call you back. Okay?" I question and as she gives her okay, I hang up.

"Dial Tank, Hec, Les and Bobby and tell them to get their ass here ASAP!" I bark and then turn to Manny "Call Tiny, he needs to get the plane ready by 1300 hours."

"What is going on?" Les comes running into my office ten minutes later, closely followed by my best friend, Bobby and Hector.

"Steph and Lula found and apprehended Darren Mitchel" I inform him and get four raised eyebrows in question. I tell them the story and by the end of it they only shake their heads.

"She can't catch a break can she?" Hector mutters.

"I will go over there and talk to the local authorities. I don't want her to get any trouble. Tank get in touch with the FBI. Ask them where they want to get Mitchel delivered to" I order.

"I will go with you" Tank replies and the rest of them nod in agreement.

"Fine, Call them before we leave. ETD 1300 hours" With that I leave my office and pick up my phone and dial Steph's number once I am back in my apartment. One glance at the clock tells me that I have seven hours until we have to leave for the airport.

"Yo" My Babe answers on the first ring.

"Are you okay?" I question as I pull my black backpack out of my closet.

"I am fine" She says quietly and I hear her closing a door.

"I am proud of you Babe" She could have easily called me and told me where he is, instead of apprehending him herself.

"Thanks Batman" I smile at he nickname for me. I wished I could be the Superhero she thinks I am, but I am only human and she is my biggest weakness. If something were to happen to her, I'd never forgive myself. "What's the plan?"

"We are going to come over and take Mitchel of your hands." I answer. "It is good to hear your voice."

"Right back at ya" Steph chuckles. "I assume you got my postcards, since you haven't come looking for me?"

"Yes, I did. And I think I can arrange for the two of us to go back to Venice someday" I answer.

"There isn't any twigs and barks ice cream, you know" She retorts, without missing a beat.

"I think I will manage" I assure her. "I have to go now, Babe. Text me the address of your location and I will come and find you. Don't go crazy"

"Don't get shot" She answers and hangs up.

Steph's POV

I hang up the phone and sigh. I am beyond excited to see Ranger. I have missed him like crazy. Multiple times I picked up the phone, wanting to call him, but talked myself out of it. I smile at the fact that he just told me he would come back to Venice with me. Maybe not all hope is lost, for the two of us.

Since he finished his contract a few months ago, since have been different between us. I broke it off with Joe, because I finally admitted that I Joe was a safe choice and I couldn't keep doing this to him any longer.

I went on this trip, to figure out what I want and to have fun with my best friend and Co-conspirator Lula. And until we bumped into Darren Mitchel, we had been having a blast.

"The cavalry is on it's way" I inform Lula, as I enter our hotel room.

"Thank god. I can't stand looking at his overweight ass any longer" Lula replies as she looks up from her book. We had to strip Darren naked since he pissed himself as I stunned his ass. How we managed to get his fat ass into our rental car, is still a mystery to me. We were able to get him onto a luggage trolley and into our hotel room, without anyone noticing.

We tied him up and gagged him and put him onto the balcony and hosed him down. Lula didn't want our hotel room to smell like piss. After wards we tied him to a metal chair, we stole from the hall way. At least that way he wouldn't be able break the chair and try to escape.

"I had to cover up his junk" My best friend informs me and points towards the towel, which is currently draped over Mitchel's lap. "He was getting a little to excited!"

"Urgg…Lula I did not need to know that" I reply shocked and cover my ears.

"I am hungry. White girl, want to order some food?" I just nod and order room service, trying to get an image of an over excited Mitchel out of my head.

The room service gets delivered by a young man, who looks barely over 18. His eyes grow big as he spots Mitchel and Lula comments "You want to join in? I think we tiered him out a little" to which the guys eyes grow even wider and he hurries out of the room.

"You are mean" I tell Lula and laugh.

"Yeah, but did you see his face? That was totally worth it" Lula manages to get out, between laughs.

It takes us a good ten minutes to get our laughs under control, before we are able to eat any of the pork knuckles and chips.

I took the night shift, to watch our hostage, so that Lula could get some sleep and just after three in the morning someone knocks on our door.

"Who is there?" I question, which is kinda pointless, since my neck started to tingle a minute ago.

"It's me" Ranger replies and my heart skips a beat. I open the door and we just stare at each other for a few seconds. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

Without saying another word, I jump him, catching him of guard. We stumble against the opposite wall and he holds me tightly to himself.

"Hey little girl" Tank says and I lift my head. I didn't even see the others there. I can feel my cheeks flush red of embarrassment and I want to step away from Ranger, but he tightens his hold.

"You are staying right here" He whispers into my ear and just then I feel what is happening in his pants and I look surprised at him.

"Lula in there?" Tank questions and I nod. "Mitchel too?" I nod a second time and the rest of the guys pile into the hotel room, after giving me each a kiss on the cheek.

"You sure live an exciting life, beautiful" Les smirks and then follows the guys.

The second the door closes behind them, Rangers lips find mine. He flips us around, so that I am trapped between the hard wall and his body. The kiss turns more heated and his hands find their way beneath my shirt, making me moan. I missed his touch.

"I missed you" I say as we break apart and I lean my forehead against his.

"I will show you later, just how much I missed you Babe" He replies with a suggestive smile and gives me one last kiss on the lips, before he pulls away.

I straighten my clothes and hair and take him in properly for the first time. His hair is still short, he has a small stubble growing and he looks like as if he hasn't been sleeping well.

"Haven't been sleeping well, because I had to wait nine days between postcards" Damn ESP. "No you said that out loud." He adds and draws me close again.

I bury my head into his chest and instantly feel at home. It doesn't matter that we haven't put a qualifier to what ever this is between us, all it matters is that he is here right now and that I can always count on him to come to my rescue. I love him and it sucks that it took me this long to admit it to myself.

A few hours later, Bobby, Les and Hector are on their way to deliver Mitchel to the American Embassy in Berlin.

"You know I have a perfectly fine Hotel room across the city?" I tell Ranger as we enter the Ritz Carlton's elevator.

"I know, but I thought you could live it up a little for a day or two. Besides it smelled like piss in there" He answers and smiles down at me.

"I really hoped we did a good job of hosing him down" I mutter and get a laugh out of Ranger.

As soon as we enter our room, Ranger slams the door shut and has me pinned against the wall within seconds. We leave a trail of clothes on our way to the bed and he enters me in one swift motion as soon as my back hits the mattress.

Ranger groans and mutters "Dios, you are going to be the death of me."

I chuckle and then another groan slips past my lips as he starts moving inside of me. "Uhhh … Carlos" I groan as he pulls out and pumps back inside. The need for each other is to great for slow and steady. Instead it is hard and fast. Within second I reach the edge and fall over, taking Ranger with me.

Ranger flips us over, so that I am lying on top of him, with his half erected member still inside of me. "You are unbelievable sexy and beautiful" His lips find mine again and he kisses me lazily.

I feel my cheeks flush and push myself up, so that I am straddling him. I start moving my hips in circles and feel him getting hard again.. "Ready for round two?" I question with a grin and he just thrust his hip upwards in responds.

A couple of days later

"I will see you in a couple of months, Babe" He assures me and wipes my tears away.

"I am sorry" I sniff and he draws me into a hug. We are at the airport in Munich. Bobby, Les and Hector got back yesterday from Berlin and after a day for relaxation, they are all going back to the States today. The last couple of days with Ranger, were amazing. We had lots and lots of Sex and actually managed to get out of the hotel room once or twice to do some sight seeing.

"I really don't know why I am crying" I tell him, muffled by his shoulder.

"It's okay, Babe" He chuckles and I can feel his body vibrating, I pull away and hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"Don't laugh" I say, as he draws me back into his arms, but can't help my own chuckle from escaping.

"Time to go Cuz" Les says from behind us and I step out of Ranger's embrace. I am being passed from one pair of arms to the next, until I am standing back in front of Ranger.

"Don't go crazy" He says as he tugs on loose curl behind my ear.

"Don't get shot" I reply and then move in for one last kiss. As we pull apart "I love you" slips out and I receive a shocked look from Ranger. I shouldn't have said that out loud and now that I have, I hope he won't pull away from me again. It is how I feel and I am finally able to acknowledge it.

"I love you too" He replies and pulls me in for another panty ruining, wobbly legs making kiss.

Ten minutes later, his plane lifts of the ground and Lula and I are left behind. "Ready for some more adventure?" my best friend questions as she wipes her tears away.

"Of Course" I grin.

Author's note:

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