Disclaimer: See ch. 1

Spoilers: Through 14

A/N: Look at me, I'm on a writing rampage! So this is a conversation that I had planned to include in chapter 18, but I completely spaced and it got left out. So here it is from Ranger's pov. It takes place right after Steph gives Ranger "all the rest of her" in chapter 18 of JL. Enjoy!

We were lying in bed trying to get our breathing back under control when she spoke.

"What if you get in trouble for…for…Trotter?"

I smiled warmly and pulled her close.

"Is that what you were thinking about while I was plundering you?"

She smiled to herself.

"Oh, no. I was definitely very focused on the plundering."

We were quiet for a few moments, and I wondered if she'd just let it drop. Then she spoke again. My babe was very persistent when she wanted answers.

"But all those cops were right there. They had to have witnessed…" She trailed off, apparently unwilling to admit aloud the fact that I had killed someone; a couple of someone's, actually.

"Why didn't they arrest you?" She looked up at me and her eyes widened. "Oh, God, are you on the run? Are they going to bust down the door any minute and take you away? Oh, Ranger, we've got to go," she said, making as if to rise from the bed. I pulled her back down.

"Calm, babe."

"But, Ranger, we have to run, they could be here at any moment."

"They're not coming, babe."

Her eyes just about bugged out of her head.

"But, but, you…you…"

"I killed someone, babe. You can say it."

She ignored me and continued with her frantic rambling, all the while trying to pull out of my arms and get off the bed.

"Ranger, they have to arrest you, it's like their cop-ly duty or something. How could they just…"

"We have an understanding."

She stilled, her eyes finding mine. "Huh?"

"The cops and Rangeman. We have an understanding."

"What the hell kind of understanding allows them to ignore a…a…"

"A murder?"

"But it was self-defense." She looked up at me, her eyes as big as saucers. "Right?"

"Yes."

"So, then…"

"So, then even if they did arrest me, we'd have nothing to worry about. But they won't."

She looked so confused that I almost laughed.

"Babe, without Rangeman's help, the cops would never have gotten their arrests. Those guys were big busts, believe me. Morelli and his buddies would have all been killed if not for us. Besides, we only killed bad guys. The cops understand that the world is better without that trash in it, and there's no sense in punishing those who got rid of them."

"But…how…"

"Someone will change the forensics and autopsy reports. It'll be department issued bullets that killed those drug dealers. Rangeman wasn't involved at all as far as anyone else is concerned."

She was quiet for so long that I began to worry she was mad or something.

"They're not crooked cops, babe. They just do what it takes to get the job done."

She peered up at me and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. I held her tight to my chest and ran a hand up and down her back.

"Is that what happened with Abruzzi?"

I stilled. I'd never meant Steph to know about that, though I knew she was too smart to not put it together on her own.

"Abruzzi committed suicide, babe," I whispered.

She blinked back her tears and nodded once.

"Right."

I wasn't sure why I was reluctant to tell her more. Maybe I just didn't want her any more involved with that aspect of my life than she already was. She was the light in my life, I didn't want any of the darkness to touch her. I took a deep breath.

"There was no need for an understanding with Abruzzi, babe. There was no evidence of foul play."

Her eyes found mine and understanding flashed between us. This was what she'd been wanting, I realized, openness between us. And suddenly I was more than willing to allow it.

"But if there ever was, the cops would get rid of it, right?"

I nodded.

"What about Morelli?" She asked quietly. "He hates you."

"He hates the bad guys more, Steph."

She looked at me for a moment longer, then snuggled down into my chest, her face in the crease of my neck and shoulder. Her warm breath brushed my throat tantalizingly as she whispered, "Thank you, Carlos. I love you."

A/N: Don't forget to let me know what you thought!

Oh, and go check out my new Plum oneshot, "Foundations".