What's going on? Enjoy.

Lula's POV

Steph and I volunteered for a monitor shift at 9AM. It's now 2:30 AM and neither Steph nor I are in the mood to head back to our respective apartments. Luckily, our apartment on the 4th floor was available, even if we didn't have anything to wear tomorrow.

Steph and I stumbled down the stairs and unlocked the apartment. We each walked into our rooms and immediately came back out again. Steph looked at me and asked, "Do you have a pile of RangeMan clothes on your bed too?"

I nodded and said, "I have loads of clothes on my bed and in my closet and not all of them are RangeMan uniforms."

Steph followed me in and looked through my closet. She smiled and said, "I mentioned our shopping trip to Ella the other day. She must have taken it upon herself to add to your wardrobe. I told you she was a goddess!"

I smiled and bid Steph goodnight, rushing into my bathroom to get ready for bed. I moved the piles of clothes off the bed and on top of the dresser. I found a pair of flannel pyjamas and once I was appropriately attired for bed, I crawled under the covers. The covers felt like silk, and I thought about what Tank had said earlier. He whispered that he thought I looked sexy and he was looking forward to working with me. I smiled at the idea of working closely with Tank. I know we had a bit of a disaster filled relationship but I didn't have too long to dwell on it much because I fell asleep almost immediately.

The alarm went off at 8AM and I was reluctant to get out of bed. I knew I promised Ranger to help out, so I dragged myself into the bathroom and had a nice hot shower. When I emerged, I tried on my first RangeMan uniform. I chose to wear the royal purple t-shirt that had the RangeMan logo embroidered in lilac. The cargo pants weren't all that bad, but they will probably take a bit of getting used to.

I was tying up my boots when Steph stuck her head into my room to let me know that Ella had brought down breakfast. I hurried into the kitchen and sat at the small table with Steph and ate an omelette. Normally I don't like eggs, but these were delicious. I don't know what Ella did to them but I'm going to ask her to teach me that trick. I could easily stick to a diet if all of the food tastes this good.

Steph and I made it down to the monitor room to relieve Zip and Ram who pulled the short string last night. They both had been up for more than 24 hours and looked absolutely exhausted. Cal came in as the guys were heading home to get some rest to give us a bit of on-the-job training.

There were a lot of procedures to remember, but Cal said it was pretty easy. If we spot something on the monitors, press the red button and the senior on-call person will come to the monitors or call in. If we receive an off-site alarm, press the red button. If we receive a call from a customer who is having a problem, press the red button. You see a pattern emerging here, don't you?

Steph looked at Cal and asked, "How do we field customer calls that are not emergencies?"

Cal smiled and said, "Good question. Normally the calls are routed to a customer contact. Since most of our account managers are unavailable today, please offer to take a message. If possible, answer their question or promise a call back. The customers are not to know anything more than the person they are trying to contact is unavailable. We don't want the customers to know that we are low on manpower.

"Ranger has arranged for 2 guys from Boston to come down to help. They'll be here this afternoon and will be taking the night shift. I'll be staying upstairs in Bobby's apartment so I can be nearby if anything goes down."

After Cal answered all of our questions, we set to work watching the cameras. It was a tedious job but I understood its importance. The phone rang a few times, but we were able to deflect most enquiries by taking a message and promising a call back as soon as possible.

Normally, a shift on monitors only lasts for 4 hours. Since we were short handed and the guys with the training and experience were needed out in the field, Steph and I ended up spending 8 hours in front of the monitors. We managed to take alternating breaks to use the restroom and eat our lunch, but by the end of the day, we both felt like we had square eyes.

Cal came in with the two guys from Boston to relieve us. When we stood and stretched, Cal pulled us aside and asked if we'd be interested in going after a skip with him. All the other guys were either sleeping or out on patrol and there was nobody else to spare.

"Who's the skip and what did he do?" I asked.

Cal looked at the folder and said, "His name is Benjamin Ludwig. He robbed a liquor store and smashed a bottle of tequila over the owner's head. The guy ended up with 72 stitches so the bond was set pretty high."

Steph took the folder from Cal and said, "I know Benji. He was a few years ahead of my sister in school. He always was a bit of a dimwit. His mother lives a few blocks from my parents' place. Benji lives in her basement so I'd be willing to bet that's where he is."

Cal smiled and said, "This might be easier than I thought. Let's get suited and dressed and then head out."

Since we were wearing coloured RangeMan shirts, Steph and I ran up to our apartment to change into regulation black t-shirts. We went back downstairs where Cal, Steph and I put on our vests and utility belts before heading down to the garage. Steph automatically climbed into the backseat so I looked at her and asked, "Don't you want to ride shotgun?"

Steph smiled and said, "I'm so used to one of the Merry Men up front that I sat back here out of habit. I don't mind the back, the front is all yours."

I climbed into the front passenger seat and then buckled up. Cal did what all the Merry Men do, as soon as he left the garage. He went into some sort of hype-aware mode that Steph referred to as their 'zone.' He didn't talk but it was obvious that he is fully aware of everything that is going on around him. I want to learn to do that but I'm worried that it might mean I have to give up my Dolby.

Cal parked in front of Benji's house and asked, "How do you ladies want to do this?"

Steph looked at me and said, "Since Benji and his mother know me, why don't I go to the front door. You and Lula can cover the side and back doors respectively. If Benji bolts through one, yell and we'll all converge."

I nodded and said, "Works for me."

Steph waited a couple of minutes for Cal and me to get into position before knocking. I heard her speak to Benji's mother briefly. The next thing I knew, the side door flew open and a gangly looking man ran out and ran right into me and knocked me over.

"He's here." I yelled as he tried to climb off of me. I grabbed out and held on to his arm as tight as possible and only let go once Cal had him securely handcuffed. Steph held out her hand to me and pulled me to my feet.

"That was great Lula. You didn't even get very dirty for rolling on the ground with a skip."

I looked down and had to agree. Maybe Batman and his band of Merry Men wore black for a reason. It didn't show much in the way of dirt. I looked up and saw Cal grinning as he dragged Benji to the SUV. Steph happily sat in the back with Benji and talked to him on our way to the police station.

Benji actually had us feeling sympathetic at his misfortune. He hadn't meant to hit the guy with the bottle of tequila. He was trying to reach over his head to steal it when it slipped from his hands. The story was so pathetic that it was almost funny.

With the body receipt in hand, we headed back to RangeMan. It was now around 7:30 PM and the three of us were starving. Steph called Ella to see if she had something prepared for us for dinner and invited Cal to join us.

Cal needed to stop by the control room to confirm that there were no problems so Steph and I headed down to our apartment and waited for Ella to bring our food and for Cal to join us. I looked in the fridge, expecting water and more water. What I found was water, more water and a case of low-fat beer. I looked up at Steph and asked, "Beer or water?"

She thought for a moment and replied, "How about one of each?" I grabbed a bottle of water and a bottle of beer for Steph and did the same for myself. I placed her drinks on the coffee table in front of where she collapsed on the sofa and joined her.

Ella brought the food and Cal joined us moments later. We ate, talked and agreed to the same schedule for the following day, even though Saturdays are a little more relaxed. Steph and I would be able to take more breaks and we'd be able to play games and the like. We headed to be early because it was a long day and we were all tired.

More to come... Reviews are welcome.