Chapter 2

I sped to the store and shopped mindlessly for groceries before heading back to my apartment. I checked my apartment, fed rex and checked my messages. No monsters in the closet or flowers on the counter, no messages. Huh. I started thinking about Scrog and the time with him. I was mindlessly cleaning up. I stopped as I was about to step on that spot. The spot where he had gotten shot. I can still see Julie slumped in the chair, Ranger coming in, looking at me, getting shot. 'Execution time.' His word rung in my head. If Julie hadn't been able to fake her drug induced state and shoot him, then he would be dead. Not alive. That thought sent shivers down my spine and made tears prick behind my eyes.

I surveyed my apartment. Everything was clean. Now what do I do?

I went into the bathroom and turned on the hot water before stripping and entering the shower. I let the water wash over me. It was calming, gave me time to relax enough. After getting cleaned up I toweled off and changed into the little cotton pajama set that Ranger had seen while he was here. I walked back out to the kitchen and made myself a hearty peanut butter and olive sandwich. I washed it down with a beer and brought my gun to the bedroom. I set it on the night stand and crawled into bed. With my alarm set I went to sleep.

I woke up. No alarm. It was a feeling. I wasn't alone. I grabbed my gun and sat up. There was a silhouette shadow by the door. I raised the gun a little. "Ranger?"

There was silence. I could feel him. I was sure it was him, I kept my gun up in case though. "Ranger." Not a question.

There was a sigh. "Yeah babe." It was him. I let out a relieved whoosh of air and clicked the safety back on before setting it back on the night stand and turned on the lamp. He was sitting in the chair slumped down a little. Tired, he had bags under his eyes and you could practically see the fear and worry on his face.

"Get in the bed."

"What?"

"This isn't sexual. Get in the bed. Your tired. I'm tired. It's-" Glimpse at the clock. "Three in the morning. We can talk in the morning. Now get in the bed." I stood my ground. He needed to sleep.

He smiled a little and stood. He kicked off his boots and walked over towards me. I clicked off the light and laid back down. A couple seconds later the bed sagged and I was pulled against a firm chest. I sighed with satisfaction and fell asleep.

The next chapter is just getting to the point a little more, later I'll have them explain more about the situation at hand. :D

Peanut16