Thank you so much for your reviews, you guys are so nice.

I hope you still like this story.

The title is just a Bon Jovi song and is no indication of where the story is heading. I think.

Spoilers: None directly, but events happen after TS

Rating: TV14

Disclaimer: All characters are JE's, I'm only borrowing them for fun

You Give Love a Bad Name

Chapter 11

When I ran out of hot water, I climbed out of the tub and wrapped myself in one of the towels, grateful they were white and I was therefore able to tell they were clean. I sat down on the rim of the tub, still trying to sort things out. And I had no clue what to do next. I felt guilty for having the luxury of a bathroom while Lula was stewing in her own juices downstairs, but I couldn't come up with anything that would get her up here. It's not like I had any negotiating power. That much was clear. Torlione didn't fool me with the nice spiel. He'd have one of his goons beat me unconscious if I so much as thought about declining his offer.

I was still praying it wouldn't come to that.

But sitting in the bathroom wouldn't solve anything either. Lula was alone in the basement, and I wouldn't get a genius idea. But I had to find out if Lester was okay.

If my calculations were right, it was midmorning. I figured I was abducted around midnight, woke up a few hours later and slept for a couple hours after that. I couldn't imagine I'd spent more than two or three hours with my back against the cold concrete wall. So less than twelve hours had passed since the start of our plan, but it felt like days.

I sighed and put last night's clothes back on, since it was the only alternative to walking around naked.

Two men were waiting for me in the hallway with their guns drawn. The door to the basement was open and it was the only way not blocked by a goon, so I walked back down. I strained my ears to listen for any sounds from outside, but I couldn't hear anything.

Downstairs, I noticed the room Lula and I were kept in wasn't the only one in the basement. There were three more doors. I prayed Lester was regaining consciousness behind one of them as I was pushed through the open door to my right.

Lula was sitting on the mattress, an empty bowl in front of her.

"Looking good, girl. Who did you blow to get all cleaned up?"

I snorted. She wasn't that far off from the truth. As the door slammed shut behind me and a bolt was thrown, I told her about my bizarre meeting.

"Torlione?" She asked when I had finished "Doesn't ring a bell. He new in town?"

I nodded "Just relocated from New York. But he said you knew a guy he worked with."

Lula seemed to ponder that for a moment, and then she shrugged. "Could be a number of people. I knew just about everyone in the scene when I was a ho'."

Torlione hadn't given me anything that would describe the person further.

We knew who we were dealing with now, but other than that, we were still clueless.

I told her about our show at the 'Maison' a couple days earlier, and how that explained Torlione's strange offer.

She smiled at that.

"Girl, I would have loved to see your skinny white ass all dressed up to pull tricks!"

I looked down at myself "You're pretty much looking at Stephanie Slut right now. Just imagine the hair teased high and the eyes lined heavily." I realized my slutty self didn't sound too different from my Jersey self.

We both knew we were just trying to distract ourselves by changing the subject to my appearance, but since we were both masters at denial, we didn't mind.

At some point soon, we'd have to talk about the possibility that our knights in shining armor might take longer than I'd thought and how we'd handle that situation. Before that, I'd probably have to tell her about Lester.

But I was describing my meeting with Clark, my first ever potential customer, at the moment. When faced with insurmountable obstacles, always go with denial. It wasn't the healthiest motto, but it kept me sane. For the most part.

I told her all about the setup and the merry men waiting for me to serve them.

Lula was laughing by the time I got to the part of Woody and me in the car, and I had to admit, up until that point it had been pretty funny.

I was just gathering up all my courage to tell her the rest of the happenings upstairs when the faint sound of a gunshot reached us.

We both sat up straight, ears strained. Since we were in a concrete room, sound from upstairs didn't carry well, but I thought I made out a few bangs, followed by more gunshots.

I looked at Lula.

"Do you think what I'm thinking?" I asked excitedly.

"The cavalry is here?"

I nodded and pulled Lula up with me. If the door was going to be broken down, I didn't want to waste a second before being rescued.

The question was should we scream and yell to draw attention to us? Or would they know where to look for us?

And could we be sure whoever was causing the noise was indeed on our side? I didn't like that last question. It had just occurred to me that the house may just as well be attacked by a rival gang or something. That meant that if we drew attention to ourselves, we might be taken like a trophy. It was just impossible to tell what was really going on upstairs.

God, I hated when I thought too much.

Lula's eyes met mine, and I had a feeling she was thinking along the same lines.

"Can you make out any voices?" She asked, not wanting to sound too hopeful and not having much success with it. I shook my head no. I couldn't hear any voices, just pandemonium.

More gunshots. There was definitely yelling though, several male voices. Impossible to distinguish them, no way of telling who they belonged to.

Both Lula and I hated waiting, it was hard for us to just stand there and do nothing. We held on to each other's arm. Probably less for comfort and more to restrain the other. I know I felt like bolting. I knew there was no sense in it since Lula'd told me the door was sturdy, but just listening to the ruckus was testing my patience.

"Damn, what' taking them so long?"

I glanced sideways at Lula, we stood facing the door. "I'm not sure we want to find out."

"You mean we don't want to find out what's taking so long or who it is in the first place?"

"Both." I decided.

She nodded. "I think you're right, but waiting here is getting to me."

It was getting to me, too, but it didn't get us killed. Whoever it was, they were distracting our kidnappers.

If the situation hadn't been so dire, I probably would have laughed. We stood like two little old ladies, holding on to each other, our eyes firmly on the door in front of us.

Then I remembered something Ranger said a while ago. Something about standing in the middle of a room, making a target of myself. So I shuffled over to the corner on the left of the door while holding on to Lula and explaining it to her. I was glad she went along, because I didn't want to stand in the corner by myself. At the time, as I remembered it, I'd only gotten egg and flour on me. I had a feeling if there were going to be projectiles this time, they'd be of the lead variety.

A door banged open, and the sound was much closer this time. The basement door, I assumed.

Lula and I both flinched when shots were fired from close by, it sounded like right outside the door to our room.

We squatted down as one, and I don't know why we did it. Strength in huddling, maybe? Lula's fingernails were digging into my hand, as I was sure mine were digging into hers.

Now someone was trying the door to our confinement. Since it was locked, the next thing we heard were shots at the lock.

I held my breath.

The door was kicked open and in the dim light, I saw the muzzle of an assault rifle, then a dark figure.

It took me only a split second to recognize the figure. I didn't need to see the face; I would know the stance anywhere.

With a scream, I jumped to my feet and in two steps, I was by the door. I had only planned to hug him, but the moment overwhelmed me and I jumped up, wrapping my legs around Joe's waist. I never stopped to think that he might interpret my approach as an attack and shoot.

I was laughing and crying at the same time and the momentum of my jump pushed Joe back into the hall.

After the initial surprise, he held on to me tight with one arm while motioning to the top of the stairs with another.

I heard feet rumbling down the steps, but I didn't look up. My face was buried in Joe's neck. It was awkward to hug him with the Kevlar vest on, but I wasn't about to let go. I'd never been so happy to see him.

After a while, Joe kissed my cheek and pried me loose, setting me down in front of him. He looked exhausted, but he was smiling.

He pushed some stray hair away from my face and his eyes found mine.

I didn't have to tell him how happy I was to see him; I saw the same emotion in his eyes.

Joe cleared his throat and turned away, shouting instructions to the men around us. Only now did I realize there were about ten men in SWAT gear in the basement. Two bodies lay on the floor; I didn't look too closely at them.

Lula appeared in the doorway, helped by one of the SWAT team. I grinned; I was betting Lula faked a little weakness there.

Another door was pried open and I heard the "Number three is alive." from inside. I hoped it was referring to Lester.

All around me, rooms and corners were being secured. Lula came to stand next to me, she was smiling.

"Looks like Captain Hottie came through for us."

Joe looked pleased and hugged me once more, planting a light kiss on my mouth.

"I have the paramedics upstairs, they probably want to give you two a once-over. I'll be up in a little bit. Just don't look down."

He released me and went over to the nearest SWAT member.

I knew what he'd meant. We shouldn't look down at the casualties. I took Lula's hand again and we climbed the stairs together.

Upstairs was total mayhem. I hadn't realized how much of the noise was filtered out before it got to the basement; it looked like a war zone.

Large chunks of drywall and wood had been blasted out of walls; ceiling beams had broken loose and blocked the way in some parts. I counted three bodies without looking down, two more men, still alive, were being cuffed as we walked by. I kept my eyes firmly on a door ahead, tugging Lula along with me.

I didn't recognize anyone on the team that had come with Joe, they weren't Trenton cops. So we passed them without stopping.

Lula and I found our way outside and were greeted by a paramedic. I was glad it was a different one than the day before, because I didn't really want any kind of remark. Like how we'd have to stop meeting that way or something. Cops, firemen and paramedics had a weird sense of humor.

I was unhurt anyway, I was merely escorting Lula.

Along with an ambulance, there were two all-black SWAT trucks, three sedans and Joe's SUV parked outside. There were no more dead people, but enough law enforcement to fill Pino's. Morelli must have mobilized all of the Special Forces in Jersey.

I looked around and didn't recognize the neighborhood because there was nothing there. I had been right though, we'd been held captive in a one-story ranch. Old trees surrounded the lot, and there was a small driveway through the woods that led to a rural road, I couldn't make out any houses nearby. It looked to me like we'd been taken to the middle of nowhere.

Lula was still being looked over when two black SUVs pulled into the driveway and came to a stop with screeching tires in front of the house.

The SUVs' doors opened, Tank and Hal emerged from the first one, Ranger from the second.

I knew they would have spotted me driving by, but I raised my arms anyway, waving frantically to get their attention.

Ranger was giving instructions, then Hal entered the house and Ranger and Tank came over to the ambulance.

I really wanted to see the reception Lula would give Tank, but Ranger took me by the elbow and led me away.

"Are you okay?" He asked, not releasing my elbow.

I nodded "I'm fine. Lula is, too, she just looks a little worse for the wear."

Ranger glanced over my shoulder to where Tank was now with Lula.

When he refocused on me, his eyes were on my nose or somewhere nearby; he was definitely not meeting my eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said, shaking his head lightly "I cannot even begin to describe how sorry I am I let you get away from us."

I hugged him spontaneously.

"You're here now. That's all that matters!"

Truth was, I couldn't be mad at him. I'd been part of the operation and I'd known there were risks. Okay, so I hadn't spent any time thinking about those risks, but still.

And I meant what I'd said; Lula and I were fine, no harm done. Well, no harm to us anyway.

As far as I was concerned, I had no right to blame Ranger for anything. Probably Morelli had told him a while ago what his opinion on the subject was though.

Ranger held onto me and kissed my hair, saying something in Spanish. He slowly released me and met my eyes.

Just like Morelli, Ranger looked like he hadn't slept since the night before.

"Babe, how did you…" Ranger started, but I put my fingers over his lips.

"Let's get Lula cleared by the EMT, grab Morelli and get something to eat. I have a lot to share, but I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Ranger smiled against my fingers still on his mouth. He nodded almost imperceptible. I wasn't trying to procrastinate, I was starving!

Movement caught my attention from the corner of my eyes, and I turned my head towards the house's front door. Hal was supporting Lester who was limping.

Lester looked up and waved at Ranger and me.

"You got it." Ranger said "Is it okay if I let Hal take Lester back though?"

I pretended to think about that for a second before I slapped Ranger's shoulder and huffed back to the ambulance to check on Lula's status. As if Ranger would ask permission from me. Wise ass!

Lula was fine. Not that she told me that, I could see for myself. Well, it was difficult to see where she ended and Tank began, but anyone with such a tight grip on Tank had to be feeling just peachy.

The EMT seemed to agree, he was already packing up.

The havoc inside the house was slowly subsiding, black-clad men were boarding one of the trucks as the plain clothed cops and CSI techs were taking over the scene.

I was leaving Lula in Tank's capable hands and trundled over to Morelli's SUV to wait for him. I was hoping he didn't have to stay until the end.

Ranger saw Hal and Lester back to the Rangeman truck, then walked over to me.

"How's Lester?" I asked him when he'd caught up with me. Ranger glanced over to Tank and Lula.

"Not as great as those two, but he'll be okay. They beat him up some, he's tough though."

I grimaced as I remembered how Lester'd been rough handled in front of me and shuddered involuntarily.

"Babe, it's over." He said, putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me close.

"Not yet."

He raised an eyebrow. I shrugged "I don't think I'll be able to tell it twice, let's wait until we're all together."

Ranger nodded.

He hugged me one-armed and planted a kiss on my hair.

"I'm glad you're okay, Babe."

I was glad I was okay, too. And that Lula and Lester were okay. And that Ranger and Morelli had found us before the meeting Torlione had threatened me with.

I slumped against Ranger's chest and sighed.

I looked up when I felt him tense and saw Morelli walking over. Of all the moments, Joe had to choose this one to appear.

I was hoping Joe was going to dismiss what he saw in light of the recent events.

Lula broke away from Tank and ran over to Joe when she spotted him. She gave him a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but Joe smiled at it.

Together they walked over to where Ranger and I were standing.

"We're gonna give Lula a ride back to her house first, if that's okay with you." Joe said.

I nodded. Probably Ranger needed Tank before Lula would drain him of all his strength.

We all agreed we'd gat cleaned up and meet later for the debriefing.

Lula'd all but fallen asleep in the back seat when we arrived at her house. She hugged me awkwardly from the back and promised she'd be ready to be picked up in two hours. I sighed and slumped back into my seat after we'd dropped her off.

Joe put his hand on my thigh and squeezed it lightly. I covered his hand with mine and closed my eyes.

It was noon; we were going to pick Lula up at two. But until then, I was going to make up for missed time.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remembered, Joe was picking me up and carrying me over to the house. He had shed his bulletproof vest but was still dressed all in black and just thinking about his toned muscles under the t-shirt made me wake up completely.

"You're carrying me all the way to the bed?" I teased.

"I wish. Unfortunately, we haven't trained Bob unlock and open the door yet." He said it with so much genuine regret in his voice that I chuckled. He put me down on the porch in front of the front door and kissed me lightly before going for his key. I stood on my own two feet, but I didn't let go of him, I didn't ever want to let go of him again.

Bob had other plans than Joe and I. He rushed past us as soon as the door was open and all but demanded a walk. Joe sighed "He hasn't had a walk since last night…"

I wanted to tell him what hadn't been done to me in longer than that but I just reached inside for Bob's leash and took Joe's hand.

I was determined to make the two o'clock meeting a short one and take Joe exactly where I wanted him.

We walked hand in hand, silently. I knew Joe was given me the time I needed, and he knew I would tell him everything. But I still didn't think I could go through it twice. He had successfully shielded both me and Lula from the other cops at the scene. We'd gotten away without a statement. That didn't mean we didn't have to give one, I knew it was mandatory.

After our walk, a quick lunch and a short nap on the couch, I got up to get ready.

Joe had called Ranger and everyone was to meet at the new Chinese restaurant. Why they'd picked Chinese or a restaurant in the first place was beyond me, but everything involving food had my vote. I was just as curious to find out how the men had spent their night as they probably were to find out about ours.

I took a shower, did the blow dry and gel thing, and applied makeup. I was ready to go at a quarter of two and convinced Morelli we wouldn't have time for anything on his mind if we wanted to make the meeting on time. It was fascinating how well my denial mechanism worked; no one would guess I'd been held captive at a criminal's house just hours before.

Us Jersey girls are tough.