Chapter Nine.

I cracked my eyes opened and was instantly aware that no one was beside me. I felt for a body, found none and squinted to see what time it was. Eight fifteen. I grabbed the ring on the desk, slid it on, rolled onto my back and sighed. It wasn't an especially sad sigh. It was more on the contented side. I'm not one to brag about this sort of stuff but Ranger and I had...er....Let's just say that Batman had acquired some skills from the last time we were together. I know it was almost impossible to imagine him better than before but he had been.

I grinned at the memory and tried not to let his absence irritate me so much. I didn't need to worry or obsess about him because he was mine. Always and forever. We were getting married and we'd live together and that was that, right?

My grin faded and I sat up. I needed to stop getting so riled up about nothing. There was no doubt in my mind that Ranger had slipped out early to wake the guys up and go after Malik.

My eye twitched a bit. Malik. The crazy, 'sadistic,' maniac. I hadn't really thought about him until now and now I didn't want to. I wanted to be carefree and happy. I wanted to bask in warm sunlight, fed my pets and have Ranger hold me.

But instead I was worrying about his safety, angered about him not being here and panicking about Malik.

I threw the sheets off and went into the bathroom. I turned the water up real hot and let it roll over me. Ahh. It felt pretty good. I closed my eyes and just stood under until my skin was red and stingy. I got out; blow dried my hair and went in search of my suitcase.

I opened the closet and my eyes widened a bit. It was no longer filled with Ranger's black outfits. Someone had unpacked my bags and hung up my clothes. I had a feeling that the someone was Cuban and braver than me. I smiled lightly, selected an outfit and got dressed.

I slumped into the kitchen; saw Rex was up and about, eating his food. He was still moving pretty slow but he hadn't passed out again and I found that was good news. I looked down and saw that Reese's bowl was empty. Which reminded me that I needed to buy an actual cat bowl for her instead of setting down the silverware ones...

The cabinets were still stocked full of food, Ranger wouldn't touch any of this of course, so I got down some cereal and politely slid away Ella's plate of non-sugary foods to make way for the milk.

While I ate, I thought about what I had to do today. Two of my skips still needed capturing...Lula could help me.....I could visit-

Then I froze and sighed. I couldn't go anywhere. I was on high alert until old Malik was caught and I didn't think that disobeying Ranger's orders were in my best wishes at the moment. We were finally officially together and I didn't want to mess that up.

But what did he expect me to do? Wait around all day? We both knew that wasn't me.

My phone started to ring and ducked into the bedroom, found it amidst the clothes and answered. My mom. "You do know that the rehearsal is today right?"

You see, this was the beautiful thing. Technically, I wasn't lying anymore so there was no guilt. Sure, it had started as a lie but the end justifies the means, right? So I could go along and feel great about it.

The only slightly bad thing was that I had totally tuned my mother out for half of the planning so....the rehearsal? It wasn't ringing a bell. But I still said, "Of course.....what time?"

I heard her sigh and pictured her ironing. "Six. I've told you this before. You weren't listening were you?"

"Of course I was........so what do I gotta do at the rehearsal?"

Another long sigh. Twenty minutes later, I hung up. Turns out that a rehearsal dinner was when everyone....well rehearsed the actual wedding and got to know each other. I didn't really see the need of that because everyone in the burg knew the other. That was made apparent because my mom had only sent the invitations out yesterday and everyone had already responded back.

Then it occurred to me that I didn't even know who she was inviting. Ranger and I hadn't been the best bride and groom. My mom, Grandma and sister had planned 99 percent of it and we just sat there nodding our heads. I smacked my forehead. Great. What if she got doves? I don't like birds.

Now we had to dress up for a rehearsal dinner. I knew Ranger would probably wear a black suit to both the wedding and the dinner and I'd have to try on my mom's dress. Oh man, what if I couldn't fit it?! Why hadn't I tried it on sooner!? We were getting married in less than a day-

My face paled. Oh crap, we were? Yes, we were! That was what my mother said, right!? She said the rehearsal dinner was a day before the wedding so that meant......

I began to wring my hands and pace about. Holy smokes. What if I hadn't have figured out my feelings for Ranger sooner? Would I have gone along? Ranger made it apparent he would have but.....Okay Steph, calm down. We love each other, we both want to do this, it's alright.

I flipped up my cell phone and called Ranger. He answered on the fourth ring. Hm. Very weird for him. He normally picked up on the first two or not at all. "We're getting married tomorrow." My voice was tight with excitement, worry and anxiety. I wondered if he noticed.

He didn't reply for a long moment and I thought he hung up. "That soon?"

Not really the answer I was hoping for. I kinda wanted an 'I know, I'm so excited.' or an 'I can't wait'. He could have even thrown me a 'Babe'. Even those sounded better than his current tone. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Yes, that soon. I was shocked too when my mom told me. Looks like she planned it all out and now all we have to do is walk down the aisle. We're lazy, huh?"

My attempt at a joke didn't even get a small chuckle. His voice didn't even sound like he was smiling. "Looks like it." I heard talking in the background.

"Where are you?"

"Out."

"Well...what are you doing?" I asked, even though I already suspected his whereabouts.

There was more talking, louder this time and he told me, "I have to go." Then he hung up.

I stared at the device for a full minute, eyes narrowed; jaw clenched and tried to calm myself down. I inhaled deeply and let it out in a gush of air. I really didn't need my imaginative mind at work here so I assured myself that his curt attitude was a result of trying to find Malik. The man was trying his hardest to protect me. There was no way to get mad at him for that.

I heard a 'meow' and Reese was below me, rubbing her head against my ankle. I crouched down and petted her softly. "You think I'm over reacting, don't you? You think I shouldn't scrutinize things so much, huh?"

She blinked at me and I wondered if she considered me a bit crazy. I wouldn't blame her if she did.

"Well I took your advice." I continued, carrying her out into the living room. "I went after Ranger and now we're seriously engaged. Cool, right?" She didn't respond. "You think I made the right choice, right?" She meowed so I took that as a yes. I sat down in front of the T.V and turned it on. "So....do you think it's normal for me to worry about him? I mean...well, I don't know, he sounded pretty stressed and....angry?"

Reese stretched in my lap.

"Should I be concerned?"

No response.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." I started to click different channels. "I hate being cooped up all day, ya know? I have things to do. Places to go, people to chase down. And I have to go back to my apartment and get more clothes. By the way, do you think I should let the building owner know that I'm leaving? I don't know if Ranger wants me to move in...." Then I waved it off. "Why, wouldn't he? He always wants me to move in, right?"

Reese closed her eyes.

"I know." I started knowingly. "I know what you're thinking but I am not obsessing anymore. Old, jealous Steph is long gone. It's just....well, there's nothing to do! I really don't want to have Ranger mad at me if I leave and Malik is still lurking around I suppose but...ugh!" I threw the remote on the couch. "So what to do?"

The feline shook her whole body in a yawn, glanced up at me and meowed.

I grinned slowly down at her. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

**********

"Hellooooooooooooo!"

There was a collective groan from the lot of men who sat watching the monitors. I smiled. Hangovers: the worst things ever. I went from man to man and asked them, quite loudly, what they were doing. I know it was evil but come on, this was a once in a lifetime experience. I don't think I'd ever be able to see them this dead again.

I noticed that Tank was gone and I flinched for him. If these guys thought they had it bad then I could only imagine what Ranger was making that big gorilla go through.

I poked my head into the break room and nearly burst into laughter when I spotted Hal, Woody and two other guys with their heads on the table, eyes closed, snoring.

I put on an evil look, tip toed over and screamed, "Ranger's back!" while pounding on the table.

They all shot up faster than speeding bullets and started to stumble around, crashing into each other and knocking the table over. I stared down at them with a gracious smile and as soon as they saw me, they groaned.

"Ranger won't like sleeping on the job."

"We're on break." I heard one of them mutter tiredly. They wearily got to their feet, set the table back in place and resumed their earlier positions.

"Bombshell, do us favor, huh?" Hal said, his voice muffled by his arms while he sat his head comfortably in them. "Tell your fiancé we were all up and alert and perfect, okay?"

"You want me to lie!?" I gasped dramatically, feigning shock as I put a hand to my open mouth.

Hal gave me an exhausted stare. "I'm sure you've done it before." Oh, he had no idea.

I grinned warmly at him. "Of course. I got your back. 100 percent." They all mumbled 'thanks' and I nodded. "I'd just hate for him to return back to find that someone broke in because his employees weren't properly working."

As soon as I uttered the last syllable, the men sighed, got up sluggishly and trekked off to get back to work while shooting me dirty looks while they walked past. I only smiled back. Was it so horrible to find entertainment from others' misery?

When it came to the Merrymen; of course.

"Who wants to hear me sing twinkle twinkle little star!?" I exclaimed, holding my hands out wide.

There was a chorus of groan, moans, stomping of foots against the floor, banging of fists against desks and heads against walls. I felt slightly offended. How bad of a singer did they think I was? Sheesh. I bet it wasn't as bad as their singing.

******

It was one o'clock and I was in the kitchen watching Rex and eating chips when I heard the door open and close. I slid off the stool, threw the bag away, wiped my hands and face and went to greet him. He was taking off his jacket when I got to him.

"Looks who's back." I smiled, my heart swelling at seeing him again. It was a wonder how his face alone could make me so happy. He didn't reply and I frowned. "You alright?"

"I didn't catch him."

He sounded tense. "Well that's okay. You always have the rest of today."

He moved past me without so much as a look and I held back my anger to follow him as he entered the kitchen. I watched him pull out a water, uncap it and down it in less than two minutes. Impressive. I'm not sure if it was all in my mind but Ranger looked thirty years older. His eyes were a bit red; his hair was a bit ruffled, his gaze was a bit more wary. I had seen him like this only one time before and that was when he was hunting down the man who had kidnapped his daughter.

"Uh...are you hungry?" I know it was a weird thing to ask but I needed to break the awkward silence. I wasn't sure what I'd do if he said he was. It wasn't like I could cook and everything I did fix was too fattening for him.

He shook his head and threw the bottle away. Hm. No recycling? "I have to leave again in a minute."

"But-you just got back." I was aware of how whiny I sounded and didn't like it.

"I know. I came back because Tank was near dead while we patrolled around so I needed to give him a break." Then he did something that made me jump. He slammed his fist against the table with enough force to shake the foundation of the entire building. Yikes. "I knew I shouldn't have let them get so wasted yesterday. Damn it."

Although he sounded like he was talking more to himself than me, I spoke up, "...Come on...it can't be that bad."

"A ruthless, murdered is pawning after you, Stephanie. I don't think it gets much worse than that."

Ranger wasn't looking at me while he talked. He was staring down at his fist on the table and I didn't really know how to reply. I could tell he was frustrated with the whole thing but how did he think I felt?!

"Well...the rehearsal dinner tonight will get our minds off of it." I offered weakly, smiling tight.

He finally met my gaze and I saw a flicker of apprehension. "What rehearsal dinner?" I couldn't be mad at him for not knowing. I hadn't either. I told him about what my mom said. His eyebrows twitched and he shook his head once. "No."

"No?"

"You can't go to that."

"Why not?"

"Too many people. Too open. I'll have to watch for-"

"How about you relax for a minute?" I suggested, holding up my hands. "Malik hasn't struck in over two days, right? Maybe he backed off."

"You just don't get it." Ranger looked like he might sigh. "You don't know him like I do."

"What's to know!?" I shrugged tiredly. "I mean come on Ranger, how many times have I been in danger like this before?"

He kept silent for a beat. "Too many times." Seriously. "And it still worries the hell out of me." Ranger stood up and brushed past me again, avoiding my eyes. "You're not going. End of story."

I opened my mouth to call out to him. To tell him he was being unreasonable, and rude and strangely distant but before I could say a word, I heard the door close shut.

********

Stupid Ranger. Thinking he could boss me around. Hmph.

I was pacing around the apartment for no real reason other than boredom. Reese was napping, Rex was running on his wheel, nothing good was on T.V and the guys downstairs had 'banned' me from talking to them until their headaches. So what the heck could I do?

Lula called me a few hours ago and I told her about the Malik Rav thing. She said 'shit', offered me a sub but I had to decline. I was still on lock down.

My mom called again to confirm that I knew when the dinner was and I told her I did and I'd be there. I also took the opportunity to learn more about what she planned. Turns out that only the family of the groom and bride should be at the rehearsal dinner but since I had told her that Ranger's mom was Jewish (and he hadn't bother to call her or remark a rebuttal...something we'd have to discuss later on), some of my friends were invited. Who? I didn't know. My mom wouldn't let me know. You should have been listening before was what she said. I had no comeback.

And as far as I knew, I was still going to the dinner. I didn't care how nervous Ranger was, he wasn't the boss of me and that was that. Besides, so what is Malik attacked me there? There would be a bunch of witnesses and people to help take him down. Make no mistake; the burg neighborhood was not one you wanted to underestimate. Half of them were midwifes and old ladies but they could kick butt.

I could sympathize with Ranger though. Obviously, he knew more about Malik than I did and I should have been scared considering how edgy he was but...I just wasn't. I guess all those other times had really toughened me up.

So all I had to do was convince Ranger it'd be fine and drag him along.

I blew out a sigh. That'd be quite hard to do. He had been pretty abrupt and angry the last time I saw him. My mouth twitched into a frown at the memory. Ugh. What was going on with him? Yesterday, he could barely keep his hands off of me and now he barely wanted to look at me.

I kept telling myself he'd be back to normal after the masked man thing passed but...I don't know. Doubt started to ball up in my chest. What if he was....rethinking his decision? What if he didn't really want me? What if......gulp, god forbid....what if he had 'gotten' what he wanted and was done with me?

I replayed these thoughts back to Reese multiple times in the last hours but she didn't really take heed to my hysteria. I sighed again, walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, peered in, closed it, opened it again, closed it and then opened the freezer. I stared into it for a beat before spotting something and pulling it out.

"Hey...when'd we get chicken?" I couldn't recall buying it. I glanced around, set it down and started to get pots and pans out of the cabinets. Ones that looked new and unused. My eyes wandered to Rex and I grabbed his cage, took him to the living room and set him on the couch. "Stay here."

Then I was on autopilot. I'm not sure what inspired me to do it but, a few minutes later, I was cooking a chicken. I put it in the pan, cranked it up and slapped my hands together. Psh, cooking wasn't that hard. Hah!

I was trying to clear my mind, I soon realized as I poked at the sizzling tenderloin with a fork, wondering when it'd be done. I disappeared from the kitchen and came back a few minutes later. On Google, it said I had to wait for the chicken to cook some more and then I could turn it.

I eyeballed it for a second and then retreated to the living room again. I watched Jay Leno for a moment, changed the channel to some reality T.V show and a yawn escaped from my mouth. My eyes got heavy and I yawned again before laying my head on the arm of the chair and taking a snooze.

I woke up in a daze, an alarm blaring in my ears, eyes watering, a tongue licking my cheek. I blinked, rubbed at my eyes and tried to figure out what was going on. Reese was on top of me, meowing and making little whiny sounds. I turned and then I saw it: smoke.

My eyes widened and I shot to my feet to sprint into the kitchen were the clouds were originating from. My chicken! Oh damn it! The alarm was still going off and I realized it was the fire alarm. I squinted past the smoke to see the flames raging around the stove, licking onto the floor and I stumbled back.

I froze for a minute, fear and shock holding me still and then I was off. I grabbed a cowering Reese, a running Rex and raced out the door. Two minutes after I exited, I saw the elevator doors come open and saw a scared looking Lester. "Hurry-" He started but I was already one step ahead. I squeezed in beside him, he hit the button and we were going down.

It was only after I made it outside to the lot and handed my pets off to Rangeman staff when I passed out.

******

"Is she up?"

"I think she's getting up."

"Are her eyes open?"

"No..."

"Well what makes you think she's getting up then?!"

"'Cause she's moving!"

"Oh wow. She's twitching. How about you go tell Ranger that? I'm sure he'd be delighted."

"Shut up or I'll tell him you spilled coffee on one of the monitors."

"You wouldn't dare!"

I opened my eyes to put faces to the words echoing painfully in my head and saw Lester and Hal glaring at each other. The broke gaze only when I groaned to glanced down at me. "Bombshell? You okay?"

I rubbed at my head and sat up slowly. "What happened?"

"You passed out." Lester told me.

"But...why..." I looked past them, saw the ambulance vans, the fire fighter trucks, the scattered Rangeman cars, men running around and realized we were in the lot. Suddenly, it all came back to me in a rush. "I burned down Ranger's house."

Hal laughed nervously. "Yeah...."

I put a hand over my face. "Does he...is he...?"

"He's inside. Which reminds me," Lester pulled out his cell phone. "He told me to call as soon as you woke up."

Oh god. I watched with a pained expression while Lester had a quick chat with Ranger which only involved the words 'she's up' before he hung up. "He's on his way." Oh goody.

"Wait so...the whole apartment burned up? Or did..." I gasped and continued, "Oh my god, I didn't burn the whole building did I!? Was anyone hurt? Oh mannn......."

"Don't worry." Hal said. DON'T WORRY? Was that his advice? If it was, it sucked. "Just the kitchen. It didn't even spread past that. His table and stove are completely charred though. You should have seen it. MAN! It was pretty sw...ee....t." He drawled out the last word because Lester was raking his hand along his neck and had raised eyebrows. Universal sign for: shut up, he's behind you.

Hal wasn't that quick to catch it so I pointed. He turned around, froze for a minute at the sight of Ranger and let out a squeak of a chuckle. I could understand his reaction. Ranger looked menacing in the daylight as much as the dark.

Lester shoved him in his ribs and they power walked away. I could hear them arguing. Particularly, I heard Lester mutter, "Nice job, jackass."

I gave Ranger a shaky smile but he didn't return it. He didn't even offer to help me up so I got to my feet by myself. He continued to stare at me until I said, "Uh...I'm sorry about the-"

"You burned down my kitchen." He sounded awed. "No one has ever burnt down my kitchen. You don't even know how to cook."

"I wanted to try."

"Fabulous job, by the way."

I scowled at his tone. "Well...I just needed to get my mind off of things, okay? While you're out hunting the Joker, I'm stuck inside. Do you know how crazy that's making me?"

Ranger's eyebrows raised a fraction. "The joker?"

"Batman's arch enemy."

"I know who he is."

I finally dared a look at the building and didn't see any smoke billowing from it. Nice. I watched people mill in and out of it. "So...no one was hurt?" I confirmed.

"Not unless you count my stove."

"Thanks for your concern." I stated dryly. "Besides, you never used it."

"Now, I can't. You burnt it."

I put a hand to my eye to stop the twitching that was sure to come. "I'm fine by the way."

"Great." He sounded indifferent.

I knew I wasn't hallucinating now. Ranger wasn't acting like himself. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. "What's your problem?"

"My problem?" I watched him turn away and put hands on hips. "My problem at the moment is that I have a woman living with me who adopts cats and burns down my kitchen but for, some reason, I'm trying to save her from a madman. Crazy, right?"

There was no amusement in his voice, no infliction that told me he was joking so I covered up how I hurt I was by his words with an angry frown. "I'm sorry I'm such a hassle." I spat, turning on my heel. "I'll just leave and you do whatever the hell you want to."

"Stephanie....." His slight pleading voice didn't stop me from walking away from him. "Steph!"

I didn't turn around and I didn't hear him call me anymore. I keep walking, hoped I'd hear his footsteps behind me but didn't. I ended up beside a tired looking Tank who was leaning on a car. I sidled up to him. "Where's Reese?"

He blinked at me. "Uh....I put her and Rex at my house. I guessed you didn't want her around the ashes and stuff. But don't worry; my cats will love her-"

"Give me the car keys."

"Huh?"

"To the car." I ground out through my teeth, eyes blazing. "Give me the car keys to the car. Any car."

"I don't think Ranger...."

"I don't care what Ranger thinks." He looked torn so I relented and my angry facade fell and I gave him a sorrow look. "Look, I just need some space. Can you at least drive me? I really need this." He still looked unsure so I added, "And if Ranger asks me who gave me a car, I'll say I tasered you and took it."

"I don't think so-"

"Or I'll taser you for real and take it myself. Your call."

Tank shook his head, as if he knew this would turn out horrible and blew out a, "Fine."

*********

I'm not alcohol tolerate at all. One beer alone can make me tipsy. So you could only imagine what I looked like after fifteen shots.

I'm not sure how many hours had passed. I'm not even sure how I managed to direct Tank to a bar but I had. And fifteen shots later, I was drunk as a skunk in a runk on a trunk. Haha!

At the moment, I was spilling my guts out to Tank. But not literary, figuratively. He was sitting beside me on the stool and through my haze of drunken stupor, I could see his face. He was either really, really, really amused or really, really, really aggravated. I couldn't tell.

"...So then Ranger says he wants to marry me. For real, for real!" I giggled idiotically and took another shot. "Ah! Yeah okay so anyway.....wow, you have big arms....but no! Seriously...he tells me this and I'm like 'REALLY?' You know 'cause I never thought he wanted to be in a relationship let alone a long term one, ya know!?" I shrieked in my slurring, elbowing him. He nodded but didn't respond. "And then we..." I stared to fan myself. "Whew....well he picks me up, lays me on the bed, ribs off my clothes and takes his big-"

"AH-AH!" Tank exclaimed with wide eyes, waving his hands. "Too much info!"

I laughed stupidly, spitting up some up my beer and banged my fists against the table. I faintly heard the bartender ask Tank if 'the little lady' was okay and he answered with something incoherent I couldn't hear. I looked around for the little lady, wondering who she was and if Tank had a girlfriend. I sputtered up more giggles from that idea. HAHA!

But I couldn't see much through my slanted, glazed eyes but distorted bodies. I cracked up some more and spun back towards Tank. "Where was I!?" I screamed out, twirled in my seat and then blinked. "Oh hey that was fun." Then I commenced to spinning around over and over again.

A few seconds later...or maybe a few minutes...or hours, I don't know! I looked up to see not only Tank staring down at me but Lester, Hal and Woody. I smiled up at them. "Hey!" I hiccuped. "Welcome to the par-tay!"

They all exchanged looks I couldn't decipher and a hand was suddenly wrapped around my wrist. "Come on Bombshell, time to go."

"Pshh!" I smacked whoever's hand away. "NO! I'm still...having fun...hahaahaha."

"She's wasted." Sounded like Lester?

"I know. You guys have to help me get her home." Big strong Tanky...

"Well how are we going to do that?" Not sure who said that.

"I've got an idea!" A very excited Woody exclaimed.

"What?"

"Lets taser her."

There was silence and I started to laugh hysterically. Hahaa, taser me! I really loved these guys...almost as much as cake. Hmmm, cake! "You know what else Ranger does? He tries to control me!" I screeched, muttering angrily to myself. "Jerk."

They all looked at me for a beat before the recent conversation started back up.

"I'm not tasering Ranger's fiancé." Lester that time. He kinda looked like a monkey. BWAHA! Monkey Lester!

"Why not!?"

"Because she's RANGER'S FIANCE!"

"Do you want to get her home or not?" Tank growled.

"It's your fault anyway! You shouldn't have brought her here in the first place, are you crazy!?" Lester again.

Hal finally spoke up and his mouth reminded me of cheesecake. HAAHA! CHEESECAKE MOUTH! "HEY! All of you just shut up and help me drag her home before Ranger kicks all of our asses."

Then I was flying. I closed my eyes and spread out my arms eagle- style. Ahh, this felt nice. Flying away from all my problems and troubles. I just wondered how I'd learn to fly. Maybe I was half bird.

"Why did she close her eyes and spread her arms out like a bird?"

"I don't know man but hurry up. My arms are aching already. Jeez, she's heavy."

********

I groaned before I even opened my eyes. I rubbed at my throbbing head and sat up slowly. I smelt a horrible, barbecue-like stench in my nose and pain pounding through my skull. Not the best way to wake up.

"You don't look so good."

I turned to see a dark figure a few feet away. I squinted my eyes and watched it walk towards me. Ranger. "Where am I?"

"On the couch."

I glanced down and sure enough, that was where I was. "But...how'd I get here? What time is it? What's going on?" My memory was close to nonexistent past two years ago.

"You burnt my kitchen, went off drinking against my orders of you staying inside and Tank brought you here. It's only five ten."

I flinched as the memories came crashing back to mind with painful clarity. "Oh man..."

I heard a clink and looked to see that Ranger had placed a cut of water and a pill on the table before me. "It'll dull the headache." I took it without complaint and sighed after wards, leaning backwards.

"So." I said after a beat of silence.

Ranger took a seat beside me but I noticed that he didn't sit very close. I probably looked like a mess. I sighed.

"So?" I said again, eyebrows raising.

His eyes were forward. "I'm trying to figure out which words will best summarize how I feel." I waited and he continued a minute later, "You need to grow up."

To say I was surprised was an understatement. My eyebrows shot up, my mouth came open and I gave him my best look of angry disbelief. "Excuse me? Run that by me again?"

"I tell you not to leave, you do it anyway. I'm trying my hardest, my hardest, to keep my cool but you aren't making it any easier." He turned to meet my gaze but his eyes were guarded. "You were an easy target in that bar. He could have picked you off without a second thought and I don't think you understand just how serious this is."

"First off, I'm sick and tired of you bossing me around." I started, standing up. "And okay, so what if he could have picked me off? The point is; he didn't. Besides, Tank was with me. He-"

"And what if Tank hadn't been? Then what?"

"But he was!" I crossed my arms and glared down at him. "Ranger, do you want to know why I went to that bar?"

"I can hardly wait." He stared at me with furious eyes.

"That's exactly why." I smiled wryly. "I don't know what happened between tomorrow night and today but you've been...acting different. And it's getting on my nerves. I can understand that you're worried about me but don't take your anger out on me. You barely showed an inkling of concern about my health after the fire."

"Stephanie," Ranger stood up to tower over me and I had to look up. "Do you want to know why I've been acting like that?"

I stayed silent but kept my face looking annoyed.

"Because," He started with a clenched jaw then gradually softened to an almost weary look. "Because...I'm...disappointed....in..myself."

My face fell into a surprised look at his tone and confession. Wow. "..Why?"

"...I want to catch this guy but...I just can't and it's driving me insane that I can't protect...you. That you're in this situation because of me and I can't help more."

The physic's words from nights ago echoed through my mind: You like the idea of others considering you as the strong one. They see you as a protector, as the rock they need. Some might even think of you as a superhero. Of course. Typical Ranger. Wanting to be my hero. I wrapped my arms around him and his eyes widened a bit before he reacted and hugged me back. "It's alright. You're doing the best you can and I love you for it." I told him softly. "You're going to get him, we're going to get married and then we're going to live happily ever after okay?"

I heard his chuckle vibrate through my ear while he stroked my hair. "If only."

We stood like that for a minute until an idea shone through my mind. It was abrupt, risky and sounded nice in my mind so I exclaimed excitedly, pushing gently away from him, "I got an idea!"

His eyebrows rose.

"Bait!" I grinned. "I can be used as bait! Malik will come after me and then you guys snag him!" Even though I was pretty sure we tried this before in the past, I was almost desperately confident it'd work this time. I needed it to work. I wanted my old Ranger back. I wanted to get married without looking over my shoulder. I wanted to get out of this apartment!

Ranger's answer was cold and definite, "No."

"Come on!" I frowned, putting hands on hips. "Think about it: you set up all the security you need, anybody you want, put a man behind every corner, I lure him out, he comes, and then you shoot him!"

"Oh so now you're okay with me shooting him?"

I waved it off. "As if you'd listen if I told you not to." I saw him smile. "So, is it a good plan?"

"No." He replied instantly. "It's a dumb, impulsive, high risk plan. Anything could happen that fucks it up. And your life is on the line."

"Well, my life is on the line now! I'm telling you Ranger, this is the best plan we have at the moment." I told him sternly. He set his jaw and narrowed his eyes but I saw behind it: he was tapping his foot, he was slowly caving.

"I can call in all the security I want?"

I nodded excitedly.

"And you'll LISTEN to everything I say?"

"Yep!"

"And you'll wear a flak vest, carry a gun, have your phone on, put on a voice transmitter, h-"

"Yes, yes!" I rolled my eyes. He grabbed me and crushed me to his chest.

"I don't like it. At all.........but you're right. It's a good plan." He kissed my forehead. "But I'll take your spot. I wouldn't risk your well being when it's me he wants."

I shook my head and welcomed the warmth of his body. "No way. He won't fall for it. You're not sloppy or clumsy. He'll suspect fowl play if you go off alone." I heard him sigh in my ear and kissed him softly on the lips. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

"You can't guarantee that."

He was right. So, in a sad attempt to cheer up the atmosphere, I poked him on the chest. "Yeah well if I get shot, I'll personally blame it all on you."

Ranger gave me a full on smile. "And what exactly will be the setting for Plan Bait?"

I bit my lip, looked down and started to toy with my fingers. "Well...you know, I was thinking at the rehearsal dinner..hehe."

There was a beat of silence. I didn't want to lure a maniac to my parent's house, we both knew that. So the obvious must have came to his mind.

"Babe, did you just trick me into going to a rehearsal dinner by using my own emotions against me?"

I smiled. "I figured we could go and then we could start Plan Bait after we left."

His mouth twitched and he tugged softly at my hair. "You owe me. A lot."

"For dragging you to your own rehearsal dinner!?"

"No. For toying with my determination. You hurt my pride." He tried to feign a look of hurt but it just didn't pull through as real. I rolled my eyes and my eyes widened when I felt his hand slip underneath my shirt. Before I could react, he covered my mouth with his own and I was moaning before I knew it.

He broke away to unhook my bra. "Where are Reese and Rex?"

Oh shit, I almost forgot about them. "I think Tank still has them."

"Good." He lifted me up, headed towards the bedroom and sat me down gently, unbuttoning my jeans. "How much time do we got before the dinner?"

My pleasure glazed eyes turned towards the clock. "Ten minutes."

"Perfect." Ranger smirked, his tall frame sending massive shadows down my half naked body. "That's nine more than I need."

Okay...first off, wow, this chapter was typed out so much more differently than what I had planned in my noggin. For that; I am sorry. It wasn't suppose to end here but I didn't want a super long, deluxe chapter. So...there's only about two more chapters left, whoop!

And of course I'll mention my beloved reviewers. I love all your feedback and glad you like the story! (Deja Vu?) :)

&& As for my smut-fiends (kidding haha), I hadn't planned to slide any in but I might change my mind ^_~ Either way, hope you liked and brace yourself for the next chappie! Lots of....angst-like-humor-like-drama? Bah, you'll see! Any more questions? Let me know!

Toodles!