A/N: Dear readers, today is my birthday. I decided the best way to celebrate is to spend a little happy time with Steph and Ranger… and you. There's no cake in the chapter, but hopefully, parts of it are sweet enough.

Many thanks to Dog in the Manger, the very talented beta for this story.

With a final, brief nod at the Merry Men, Ranger led me out of the room and down a short hallway into a spacious, two-story foyer.

"What is this place?" I asked with wonder, staring at the curving marble staircase with the elaborate, black wrought iron railing.

"If Haywood is RangeMan-City, you could think of this as RangeMan-Country."

"This looks more like Wayne Manor than RangeMan," I grumbled as we began to ascend the stairs.

"Not hardly, Babe." Ranger's face looked serious, but his eyes told me he was thinking about smiling. "Wayne Manor is near Gotham. We're much closer to New York City."

"Ranger." I stopped and looked at him, my hands on my hips. I was determined to get some answers when a thought flashed into my mind that had me feeling less confident. Had Hector and Lester brought me to the Bat Cave? How was Ranger going to feel about that?

"This is one of the places I own," Ranger admitted, his ESP clearly tuned to the Stephanie channel tonight. "But these days, I spend more time at Haywood than I do anywhere else. I bought a house in Miami, where I intended to live, but every time I'm away from Trenton for more than a few days, I get homesick for this crazy brunette that I know."

"So this isn't the Bat Cave?" I croaked out as Ranger tugged on one of my curls playfully. I was suddenly feeling happy and self-conscious all at the same time.

"You may have noticed that this place wouldn't make for an easy, daily commute. But I like being out in the country just as much as you like being at the beach. This place serves as a bit of a retreat for me and it's big enough that…" He hesitated, as if deciding how much to say. "If there's a disaster in the city and we needed to vacate, I could move RangeMan here along with most of my family."

Ranger had just said more words to me than he sometimes said in a whole week, yet at the moment, I could only focus on two of them: a disaster.

"Like a hurricane, Babe." He wrapped his arm around my waist and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Or a crazy Russian crime family," I muttered morosely.

At the end of another long hallway, Ranger pulled me into what turned out to be a suite of rooms. The first room appeared to be a study. Thick Turkish carpets covered polished floors of dark wood and just like downstairs, a fire burned brightly in the fireplace. In the shadows created by the dancing flames, I could just make out several couches covered in black suede, and in the corner of the room, a massive desk.

The adjacent bedroom took my breath away. One of the room's stone walls curved outward, making me think we were in one of the turrets I had seen, when we had pulled up to the house earlier in the evening. A large picture window unobstructed by blinds or curtains seemed to frame the inky night sky and a full orange-yellow moon. There were curtains on the bed though… dark grey curtains at the corners of a massive four-poster canopy bed dressed with cream-colored linens and maybe a zillion pillows.

"This is my room?" I asked incredulously.

I didn't quite get the look that passed across Ranger's face. Surprise? Amusement? He recovered quickly though, dropping a kiss to the top of my head and aiming a friendly pat at my ass.

"I need a shower before bed. If you want something to sleep in, there are pajamas in the dresser on your side of the dressing room, just like at Haywood." He looked a little smug. "If you prefer to sleep in one of my t-shirts, you can probably figure out where those are."

Ranger disappeared into the bathroom; and I opened the door to a dressing room that was larger than my bedroom at home. Instinctively, I went to the chest on the right. Not entirely unexpectedly, I found bras and panties in the top drawer. Although some of them were black, they weren't like the cotton underwear embroidered with the RangeMan logo that Ella stocked for me at Haywood. They were sheer and lacy... and sexy. When I yanked open the second drawer, I found assorted cotton pajama sets along with a short nightgown in copper-colored silk. I rubbed the luxurious fabric against my cheek and moaned a little, trying not to imagine the contrast between the rich color of the nightgown and the creamy sheets.

As I heard the shower cut off, I made a snap decision. Shoving the silk nightgown back in the drawer, I pulled on a fitted camisole made of black lace and an ivory thong. I scrambled to the center of the bed and kneeling, I placed my hands, palms together, in front of my heart. When Ranger came out of the bedroom, clad only in white towel wrapped at his waist, I caught his eye and bowed my head. "Namaste," I said simply.

Ranger's eyes darkened, as he dropped the towel and stalked toward the bed. Before I knew what was happening, I was flat on my back and he was hovering over me. "What did you say?"

"Namaste," I whispered huskily, squirming beneath him.

"Do you know what Namaste means, Stephanie?

"It's what we say at the beginning and end of yoga class," I whispered breathlessly. "It's a greeting, sort of like 'aloha.'"

Ranger sighed and dropped his forehead to mine. "Not exactly, Babe."

He rolled me to me side and pulled me close to him, my back to his front. He tucked my hair out of the way and pressed a sweet kiss to the back of my neck. I pushed my body tightly against his and squirmed a little bit, letting him know that I was just as ready for this as he seemed to be.

He planted one more kiss on my neck and then, surprising the heck out of me, he shifted his body, putting a tiny bit of space between us. "Sleep," he said.

Now, normally, I wouldn't think that pushing my backside against a naked, aroused Ranger was a particularly good idea. After all, I wouldn't want to give him any ideas that I had changed my feelings about butt stuff. Tonight though, I seemed to be feeling especially brave, or maybe especially stupid, because I scooted backwards again. "But I'm not tired. I had a long nap before you got home."

Ranger groaned softly and moved his hand to my hip to still the movements I was making. "Please, Babe. You need to rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

The numbers on the clock on the bedside table glowed red in the darkness. It was 1:12, meaning that we had a long day ahead of us today… but I couldn't seem to help myself, even though Ranger played the 'please' card. I twisted in his arms so that we were face to face. "But I behaved myself today. I stayed out of trouble and did everything you asked!" So I was whining. I'd had a hard day.

Ranger responded with a bark of laughter and a two hundred watt grin. "Five cars destroyed, Pino's nearly burned down and Lester had to be treated in the ER."

"None of that was my fault!" Suddenly, I felt a hot tear roll down my cheek and Ranger's smile disappeared.

"Hey, Babe. None of that." He used his thumb to wipe my cheek and brushed his lips gently against mine. "You did good today, you know that?"

"Good enough to get a reward?" I let my fingers trace a path down Ranger's smooth jaw, noting that he'd taken the time to shave before coming to bed.

"Querida, you have a contused elbow and at least a mild concussion. You haven't kept any food down today and if we didn't have this situation, you'd be in the ER getting IV fluids. Bobby made it clear to me that you haven't been cleared for any activity tonight except sleep."

"But you promised!" At that, I was treated to Ranger's blank face. Not the blank 'never let them see you emotions face.' It was the 'I have no idea what in the hell you're talking about face.'

"In the alley this morning," I reminded him. "At least, I'm pretty sure there was an implied promise there."

I studied Ranger's face, watching for the flash of understanding in his eyes. I didn't have to wait long.

"Have I ever lied to you, Stephanie? Have I ever failed to keep a promise to you?" He cupped my face in both of his hands, not allowing me to look away. I guess he was looking for the answer in my eyes because I couldn't seem to get the words out. Suddenly, what he had once said to me about 'someday' popped into my head and I saw his eyes darken, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Babe, I may not be able to deliver on the timetable that you and I would like, but I will always, always keep my promises to you."

I nodded silently at him, finally opting to close my eyes to escape from the intensity of his gaze. That's when he sighed.

"Tell you what. Let's make a deal. You roll over on your stomach and let me rub your back. If you're still awake in fifteen minutes, we'll re-negotiate."

"That works for me," I told him. After this long, what was fifteen more minutes? "I can wait that long… no problem. "

Of course, Ranger was right. I fell asleep. I awoke in his bed hours later, dressed in one of his black t-shirts and the ivory thong that had seemed like such a good idea last night. From the light streaming in the bedroom window, it was afternoon. Surprisingly, given the hour, I wasn't alone. My face was squashed into a pillow that smelled intoxicatingly of Bulgari and Ranger. From the haze of sleep, I felt feather-light kisses on the back of my neck, and soft caresses all the way down my spine. Capable fingers began to work their magic... God, I had been waiting for this for soo long. "Carlos," I moaned into the pillow.

Suddenly, it wasn't just the two of us in the bedroom. "Little Girl," I heard Tank say. "Little Girl, I need -"

"Go away, Tank," I mumbled. "We're busy." As fond as I was of the Merry Men, especially Tank, I wasn't into…

"Stephanie." Tank's voice sounded strangled, but more insistent. "Steph, I need you to wake up now."

That startled me awake and I yanked the comforter over my head to give me time to sort out what was real and what was just a part of the nicest dream I've had in long time. The thousand-thread count sheets confirmed that I was indeed in Ranger's bed. Yep, sometime during the night I had acquired one of Ranger's t-shirts and I was wearing very damp ivory panties. Sadly, Ranger and his capable fingers were no were to be found. Time to face the music.

I rolled to my back and sat up, pulling the sheet to my chin. "Tank, what the hell are you doing in Ranger's bedroom?"

"Steph, it's time for you to get out bed and get dressed. You need to eat something and we have a debriefing in the library in thirty." Like always, Tank was cool and professional. At my blank stare, he simply responded. "The library is on the first floor… maybe you saw it last night? I'll take you there when you're dressed."

"Um, Tank, how long were you standing there?"

The big man cracked a smile. "A few minutes. That was some dream you were having. I was afraid to get any closer."

I flung the Bulgari scented pillow at him, but he ducked and the pillow hit the doorframe.

He chuckled. "Just for the record, Little Girl, Ranger's not into sharing either… not that there wouldn't be a line of RangeMen if you two changed your minds."

Damn. I guess I talk in my sleep. "Ranger and I do not have that kind of relationship, Tank," I answered as primly as I could. At least not yet, we don't. But it wasn't for my lack of trying last night.

"Uh, yeah. Right, Bombshell." Tank rubbed his bald head and sighed. "But I still need you to climb out of Carlos' bed, and come downstairs to the debriefing.. You need to take off Carlos' t shirt and get dressed in something from your side of Carlos' closest."

Great, now he was being a smart ass. Although, it was apparently late afternoon, it was too early for this; but he wasn't finished.

"And while you do that, I'll go inform the rest of the Justice League that Batman and Wonder Woman have both been kidnapped by the King and Queen of Denial."

I wasn't even going to acknowledge that one. "Tank, where is Ranger?"

"He was called out. He'll be back as soon as he can."

"Like back in time for dinner, or back in time for Christmas?"

Tank shrugged a little and held up his hands. "Steph, you know how this works. He hoped to be back before you woke up. Hopefully he'll be back by the time we get downstairs."

I snaked an arm out from under the blanket and reached for my cell phone on the bedside table. I hit the first number on my speed dial and I wish I could say that I was surprised, when it went straight to voice mail. "I thought he was supposed to be guarding my body," I grumbled.

"He was on duty until four am and then I took over… being your bodyguard, I mean." If I didn't know better, I would say that Tank was blushing. I'm guessing that I acquired a little more clothing about the time that he took over for Ranger. Interestingly, embarrassment seemed to loosen his tongue a little bit. "Ranger had to go back to Trenton. There was a house fire and arson was suspected—"

"Omigod, Tank. Was it at a RangeMan account?"

I had two feet on the floor and was headed for the bathroom, when his words registered.

"Not exactly, Little Girl. It was Morelli's house."