I do not own the characters, I am just enjoying playing dress up dolly with them today.

After a shower and a change of clothes, I felt ready to face a day with both Joe and Carlos in the same room for long periods of time. Probably it had something to do with the Bugari body wash I found in the shower. It appeared that I was sharing the master suite with Ranger. Truthfully I didn't mind in the least bit.

I wandered downstairs following the sound of voices to what I hoped was the kitchen. My stomach growled reminding me of its currently empty status.

I stopped in the doorway smiling at the sight that greeted me. The kitchen was bright and cheerful. White, Cadet Blue, and Sage Green tile and walls, combined to create a welcoming atmosphere. But it was Carlos in an apron, with Tank and Lester at his side while Julie instructed them in the fine art of muffin making that cause my heart to stutter. It made me wish for a camera quite desperately. I wanted to always remember Carlos and his men covered in specks of flour sugar and blueberries. A hand on my shoulder caused me to turn, seeing Joe's amused face as Rachel passed her camera around him to me.

I managed two good shots before they looked up realizing they had an audience. The smiles on Carlos and Julie's faces were precious, and I managed to take another picture before they looked at each other nodded once and began to come towards me. I backed up a step, the look in their eyes particularly Ranger's made me nervous.

I would have turned tail and ran but since I only knew how to get to Julie's room and the master bedroom, I didn't have any good hiding options. The diabolical grin on Ranger's face told me he knew what I was thinking. As my options were limited I decided the best defense was a good offense. I smiled angelically (oh hush you) and stalked forwards towards them. Ranger's eyes widened slightly in surprise; I grabbed Julie and swung her into my arms flipping her upside down offering her butt t the room in general.

"Free spankings! Anyone want a free shot?" I asked, wandering around the room as Julie shrieked and wiggled trying to get loose.

"No fair!" She yelled. "Let me down!"

"Nope, you are mine now." I said. "I've decided to keep you. You're coming home with me."

"Hmm…" Ranger said in a deceptively calm voice. "Maybe I want to keep you both what are you going to do about that?" He reached out and snagged Julie out of my arms, setting her right side up on the floor. He placed a sweetly gentle kiss on her forehead, as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"My hero!" She declared. "You saved me."

We all laughed with her but; there was no mistaking the love and pride in her voice. I looked in Ranger's eyes and I could see shock that she would feel that way towards him. He blinked and it was gone. Looks like Batman needed more time to consider these new revelations.

Working together we got the table set and breakfast on the table in a little over 30 minutes. Even I had contributed a recipe new favorite recipe, scrambled eggs with onions and green chilies. By the way they disappeared I would call them a hit.

After breakfast Julie went off with Rachel to do school work. The Rangemen including the boss went to have a meeting with Joe, and I was left to my own devices. I wanted to go outside and sit in the sun, or take a long walk. However; I wasn't going to voluntarily do anything that would allow Scrog to get anywhere near me.

With that in mind, I started climbing the stairs. The closer I got to the top of the stairs, the more the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and my shoulder-blades twitched. Looking around, I noticed that the door to my room was slightly open. Since I had closed the door and I knew Ranger had not come upstairs after that. I crept silently forward, until I could see in to the room. What I saw made my stomach churn. On the bed facing away from the door I recognized the back of Scrog's head.

(I was going to end there since I hand wrote this chapter on paper, but I have decided to add a little bit more)

I was completely still for several heartbeats, before I began to back down the stairs as silently as I came up them. I kept my eyes on the door willing it not to move. My hand clutched the banister in a death grip. At the bottom step I backed into a wall, my hand flew up to cover my mouth and prevent my startled scream. A second hand covered mine, as Ranger's arm wrapped around my waist lifting and carrying me to the first doorway in the hall.

Joe and the rest of Ranger's guys looked up, surprised by our method of entry.

"Okay Babe, tell me what's wrong." Ranger said quietly as he released me.

"I…Where is Rachel and Julie?" I was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts but protecting Julie was my top priority. "It's…He's here in the house. In our room, he was laying on the bed." My words came out in such a rush it took the men several minutes to process what I had said. Once it was clear, Cal and Hal were out of their seats. "Cal and I will go guard Rachel and the kids."

All of the men were standing now looking at Joe and Ranger waiting for instructions.

Joe looked at Ranger and said "As long as there isn't any unnecessary roughness these are your men, call the shots."

I was surprised and gratified at Joe's words.

Ranger nodded to Joe "Thank you Joe. Alright Tank you and I are…" He was interrupted here by Lester and Bobby.

"Ranger man, he wants you dead, you are not going in point on this." Lester said, and continued quickly when it looked like Ranger would argue. "You and Stephanie can come but you guard her and you will be in the back, Tank and I will take point and Bobby and Joe will have our backs."

Ranger considered it for a second and then nodded. "Put your Kevlar on and let's go, we don't want him to get away or loose in this house."

When everyone, including me was covered by Kevlar and had guns at the ready we made our way silently up the stairs. As Tank and Lester reached the top stair I could tell that Scrog wasn't on the bed any longer. I sighed but said nothing to Ranger as we waited at the bottom of the staircase.