Disclaimer: The Plum characters all belong to JE. I'm just borrowing them :).

A/N: This takes off after my story "Halloween Night Celebration." . It's not 100% necessary to read it, just a suggestion. Also, huge thanks to Little Lisa and Sasha for being awesome betas!

Life With Batman Begins

Ranger and I had started dating about four months ago. I know that I would never forget our anniversary—Halloween. That was the night that I had waited for my ex, Joe Morelli, to take me out on a real date, then got stood up, went out with Ranger, then ran into Joe at a bar. He had just forgotten me! But that really worked out well for me. I got the Cuban Sex God out of the deal. I certainly wasn't complaining.

Apparently, Joe was, though. He hadn't had a real date in forever, and he wasn't getting laid. I didn't have that problem. Well… actually, right now I was having that problem. But that's just because Ranger was off saving the world again for the past two weeks.

What's shocked me the most in my new relationship with Ranger, is that he has actually talked to me. I mean really talked to me! It truly surprised me. Halloween, when he asked me if he could take me out on a real date, he wasn't talking in monosyllables. I picked my jaw off the table and accepted it, but thought it would pass. It didn't, however. He still talks to me.

He told me the reason he hadn't tried a relationship with me was this contract he had with the government. He can't talk too much about it—I'm pretty sure it's one of those, if he told me, he'd have to kill me, things. The contract was supposed to end yesterday. The government called him up at the last minute and he was working on this last assignment.

I sighed, slightly brought down by my melancholy thoughts about Ranger. There were plenty of good thoughts (really good thoughts…. Really, really good thoughts…) and just thinking briefly about them caused a self-satisfied smile to appear around my lips. But I was still sad. Ranger had always been my rock, and I had become even more used to his presence in the past few months. I missed him.

I decided that sitting in my apartment brooding really wasn't going to improve my mood, let alone my funds. I was back working at RangeMan part-time. Yes, I also had to work out, carry a gun, practice shooting and all of that. It is, however, far more enjoyable now that Ranger is offering his body for every improvement I make. On the other hand, today was a day at Vinnie's. I had caught up on all my files my last bounty hunter day, so I was open for any new cases that Connie might have for me. I made sure I wasn't wearing a new pair of jeans, because even with the training, sometimes disasters were unavoidable, and some of the skips just really enjoyed throwing food. Then, I left.

I was about to pull up to the bonds' office, when my cell phone rang. I looked down, vaguely noting it was the RangeMan number.

"Yo."

"Babe, stealing my lines?" Ranger's smooth voice came over the line. I smiled involuntary.

"Ranger! When did you get back?" I asked curiously.

"About fifteen minutes ago. What do you have going on today?"

"I was on my way to the bonds' office to get any skips. What about you?" I inquired, hoping he'd want to see me.

"I'm going to be busy for a couple of hours. Any chance you would want to meet me for lunch and take the rest of the afternoon off?"

"Sure. When and where?"

"I was thinking at one. How about I pick you up at your apartment?"

"Sounds good, Batman."

He made an affirming noise and then hung up. No matter how much he had changed in other aspects, it was still like pulling teeth to get the man to say goodbye. Sighing, I got out of my car and went into the bonds' office. Connie and Lula were gossiping, but stopped when I walked in.

"Hunh," Lula said, looking me over. I was looking her over at the same time. She was wearing an electric blue spandex mini dress, her hair highlighted with matching streaks.

"Hunh what?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

"You're all smiley, but that ain't no I got satisfied grin. 'Sides, Batman isn't even in town. Connie, what do you think?"

Connie studied me for a minute, and then shrugged. "She'll tell us if she wants her files for today," Connie said, showing me three files that she was holding. I rolled my eyes.

"Ranger just called. He's back in Trenton."

"Girl, what are you doing here? You should be with that fine piece of man," Lula exclaimed. Connie nodded her agreement.

"He's busy right now. We're meeting at lunch, and that's why you should give me my files. He called me when I got here. I have to go back home and freshen up a bit," I said. Connie immediately handed me my files, and I headed out of the bonds' office and back to my apartment to get ready.

Two hours later, I was sitting on my couch. I had showered, shaved, and done everything else that was necessary to be ready for Ranger. I was wearing a black skirt and a blue sweater that matched my eyes. I wasn't wearing too much make up because Ranger didn't think I needed it. I was reading through my files when I heard the lock being picked. I looked up and saw Ranger standing in the doorway; he was gorgeous. Two weeks without him was entirely too long. He was dressed in typical fashion—black cargoes, a painted on black t-shirt. I unconsciously licked my lips.

"Babe," Ranger said. I smiled at him and crossed the room quickly, wrapping my arms around him. He dropped his lips to mine, kissing me for all he was worth. And the man can kiss. I moaned softly as the kiss got deeper. He suddenly pulled back from me.

"Babe. What I want to do to you is no secret. And I want to do it bad.* But I have some plans for us this afternoon, so we really need to leave now before I forget about them." I nodded, grabbing my purse and heading out of the apartment, Ranger right behind me.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously. Ranger just looked at me with a smile.

"We're starting with lunch," he said. I rolled my eyes at him. "Seafood, Babe." Sounds good, but that was all he would tell me?

We got into Ranger's car and drove across Trenton to a new seafood place that just opened. I looked at Ranger, who smiled mysteriously at me. We went in and were taken to a table in the back, Ranger with his back to the wall, and me in the seat across from him. Typical.

"Did everything go okay?" I asked him, looking him over more carefully. I could see that he had lost some weight, and noticed a faint bruise around one of his eyes.

"Everything went fine, Babe. I'm now officially done with my contract. I was being debriefed yesterday, and they tried to convince me to stay on," Ranger answered calmly. I smiled broadly.

"Fantastic. That's great. No injuries?" I questioned.

"Nothing too serious. A black eye, some bruised ribs. I'm almost completely healed," he said. "I missed you."

I tried to raise one of my eyebrows, but it was really both of them. Ranger rarely made declarations like that, even though he was more open now.

"I missed you too," I told him tenderly. He flashed his bright smile at me, which of course caused a nearby waitress to knock over a glass. I rolled my eyes.

"So, I wanted to ask you something," Ranger mentioned.

What did he want to ask me? I noticed that he looked vaguely nervous, almost like the night when he first asked me out. The waitress chose that time to ask what we wanted for lunch. We both quickly ordered, then she scurried off. I instantly moved my eyes back to lock on Ranger's.

"What's up?" I inquired, when it appeared that he was having trouble asking me what he wanted.

"Look, I know that I am not too good at this relationship thing. I never really had one before. And you haven't exactly had a run of good luck either." I nodded, thinking back to my jerk of an ex-husband and Joe. "But I was hoping that you would agree to move in with me," he ended in a rush. Ranger was that nervous about asking me? And he really wanted me to move in with him?

"Really?" I asked softly.

"Really," he agreed, reaching across the table to take my hand.

I nodded silently. "Of course. So, the penthouse at RangeMan?" I asked.

"For now," Ranger agreed readily. "That's what I wanted to do this afternoon. I've joked about the Batcave, but I don't actually have a real house. I was hoping that we could buy a house together," he said.

My eyes opened wider. "That's a big commitment, Ranger. Are you sure?"

"Do you have doubts? I know what I want," he said, looking at me levelly.

I smiled at him, indicating my understanding. "Okay. We'll get a house."

Ranger's face relaxed considerably. "I have a meeting with a realtor this afternoon. We'll get exactly what we want," he said determinedly.

I nodded in agreement. I knew that we'd get exactly what we wanted. With Ranger, anything and everything was possible.

*quote from TS.