Chapter 14! Enjoy. Sorry about the delay, went on a ski trip up to mountains in Japan and let me say, it was amazing! *o*

Warnings: none

Disclaimer in chapter 1

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Guardian

Chapter 14

Two Shoes

Diesel let out a huff, ignoring the lecture Heidi was giving him. Oh yeah, no more cheating, blah, blah, blah, if you always cheat you're never going to make it in life. God, for a cutie, she sure was a square, Diesel could bet money that Heidi never even broke the rules, just nod her pretty head and say, "Okay Stephanie, anything you say goes!"

Bleh…

"Now, Diesel are you listening to me?" Heidi asked, her hands on her hips and one of her hands holding the instructions to the desk he was putting up, "What did I tell you?"

"That you're a square and a stickler to the rules," Diesel said, tossing the screw driver he had down on the ground, "Holy shit, woman, do you hear yourself, you sound like someone's mother, you're only 13 or 14, whatever!"

Heidi drew back from Diesel and whispered, "You think I'm old? I'm not old, I'm just…."

"Just what?" Diesel asked, standing up and looking down at Heidi, "A goody two shoes? Well guess what, you are! Stephanie tells you jump and you jump twice as high cause she said so, I bet you couldn't even piss without asking for permission."

Heidi's face heated up and Diesel watched, with satisfaction, as she puffed up and said, "I'm not a goody two shoes, and I know I don't Stephanie's permission to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh yeah?" Diesel asked, a feral smile crossed his lips, "Prove it, meet me down the street, you know, close to the plaza strip, at midnight, tonight, we're going to have us some nighttime fun."

"Midnight fun?" Heidi asked, as Diesel turned away from her and got back to putting the desk together, "What kind of midnight fun are you talking about?"

"You'll see, Kitten," Diesel said with a wink, cursing loudly as he tried to put the desk together, "Fucking A mang, why did you have to buy a dumbass IKEA desk?!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You're looking a little busted up, Vinnie," Stephanie commented to her cousin, watching the man nurse a black eye, "What happened to you?"

"None of your damn business," Vinnie snapped, but slapped a hand over the files Stephanie meant to pick up, "No need for you to pick up these files, Steph, these are all low bonds, in fact, I won't need you for a while, I got Joyce Barnhart, she's taking over."

"You mean your side piece, who has no taste in hair color and men?" Stephanie asked, earning a giggle from Connie, "Man, I wonder what your wife is going to say when she finds out that her needle dick husband is fucking Elmo?"

"Nothing, cause she's not finding out shit!" Vinnie said, pushing Stephanie out the bond's office, "You wanna know why, cause you're fired, at least for a while, that's why, don't come back until I say so!"

Stephanie yelped as Vinnie pushed her out the door and locked it behind her, giving her the finger. Stephanie gave him the finger right back and turned, only to crash into Carlos, who grabbed her before she could fall.

"Great," Stephanie muttered, standing up, "You! Just who I wanted to see, okay Carlos, leave me alone, I just lost my job, for awhile and now I need to go pick up a hobby."

"Oh, that's such a shame," Carlos said, wrapping an arm around Stephanie's waist, "For you, I mean, but actually, I have an offer for you, come with me, let's get some lunch, my treat."

"Now, hold on a minute," Stephanie said, slipping out of Carlos's grip, "You can't butter me up with food! What do you want?"

"I have a special case going on at my company," Carlos said, wrapping his arm around Stephanie's waist and leading her to her baby, "I need to go undercover at his company, apparently someone has been stealing millions of dollars' worth of merchandise and cash."

"Okay…and?" Stephanie asked, trying to dislodge Carlos's arm from her waist.

"I need a partner to go undercover with me, a woman," Carlos said, looking over to Stephanie, "I need for you to go undercover with me at this place."

"Oh, why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like what you're going to tell me next?" Stephanie asked Carlos, as he pulled her closer to him. It made Stephanie wrinkle her nose, Carlos smelled like male…

"We'll be posing as a married couple, it's only for a little bit, like…a month or so, give or take," Carlos said, earning a squawk from Stephanie.

"Only just a month or so?!" Stephanie exclaimed, her eyes wide, before she narrowed them, "You snake, you made Vinnie fire me, is that why he had a black eye today?"

"Babe, I have no idea what you're talking about," Carlos said, opening the door to Stephanie's car, "I just got here, to ask you a question…."

"You are such a liar!" Stephanie boomed just as Carlos placed her in the car, "You-you CAD!"

"Heidi's been rubbing off on you, I see," Carlos said, as he closed the car door, "Meet me at Rangeman at 1, and we'll go over the details!"

Stephanie fumed and kicked as Carlos walked off, that piece of shit! Just because he smelled like a nice man, didn't mean anything!

'He sure has a strong arm….' Stephanie's conscious said loudly, 'And you know the other arm is just as strong too…and he smelled good too…it's been to long since we've had sex, let's rape him!'

Stephanie felt her eyebrow twitch and then she said, "Just for that, mind, I'm going to think about the time we got hit on by the burly Bulgarian who was covered in gold chains!"

'You bitch…'

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I hope you like the bedsheets, Lula," Heidi said, helping the woman into the bed, "Grandma Mazur and I picked them out just for you, since you like animal prints and all."

Heidi looked over to Edna and Tank, the Rangeman that was with the three ladies today and bit her lip. Lula hadn't said a word since she woke up in the hospital. She was silent and like a brick wall. Heidi wondered if Lula was deaf, or mute, maybe she couldn't express herself because she was unable to oh goodness.

Edna, sensing Heidi's growing worry, placed a hand on Lula's shoulder and said, "Can we get you anything dear, some lunch or a drink for-"

"I ain't no damn charity case," Lula said, looking up at the three of them, with a fire in her eye, "I don't know why they wouldn't let me go, after I woke the hell up! I have a life I was livin' you know, it ain't much but I was living it!"

Edna and Heidi looked at one another before they turned to Tank, who nodded his head and chuckled.

"Oh no, missy, this isn't charity, you're going to work for your keep, here," Tank said crossing his arms, "You can help Edna keep house and then when you're 100 percent better, you can help around where I work, and we'll go from there. There're no handouts here, you got that?"

To Edna's and Heidi's amazement, Lula nodded her head and said, "Good, I ain't no welfare queen and I ain't going to start now."

"Never said you were," Edna said, with a smile, "Just some fellow human beings helping out one another."

"I'll take that lunch now," Lula said, wincing as she agitated the wounds on her stomach, "The food at the hospital was horrible, how can they feed us that slop!"

Edna and Tank left to fix Lula some lunch while Heidi settled down in the armchair close to the bed. She leaned forward and said, "How are you feeling now?"

"Like I've been stabbed and gutted," Lula said, but smiled at the girl in front of her, "I'm in a little pain, but the drugs they gave me are helping."

"Good," Heidi said, scooting closer to the woman, "I found you in the park a few weeks back, and I thought you were going to die before the paramedics got to us."

"I thought so too, but during that time, I felt some warmth, and it took away most of the big pain," Lula said, leaning back in the bed, "But that feeling went away quickly, I wished it had stayed."

"What are you going to do, once you're healed and have helped around?" Heidi asked, curling her legs under her frame, "Are you going to go back to prostitution?"

"I don't think so," Lula said, looking over to Heidi, a smile on her face, "This incident was a wake up call, I think I want to do better things with my life, don't know what, but anything's better than selling yourself."

"Maybe you'll do fine at Rangeman," Heidi said, just as Edna and Tank came back with Lula's lunch, "Oh, here's your lunch, I should be going, Stephanie will be here soon to take me to get measured for my stupid uniforms, bleh, see you later Lula, maybe when you're up and about too!"

Heidi got up from the armchair and made her way down the stairs, just as Stephanie came waltzing into the house, a scowl on her face. Heidi shook her head and said, "I don't want to know…"

"I have a new job," Stephanie said, grabbing Heidi's hand and dragging her out the house, "I'm working with Carlos…"

"Okay," Heidi said as she climbed into the Mercedes, "And you're angry because…"

"That bastard Carlos, he somehow scared that weasel Vinnie into firing me and now I'm working with him, on an undercover mission into some stupid couple retreat compound!"

"Oh, well, that sounds like fun!" Heidi said, looking over to Stephanie, "I bet you two are going to have play the part of a couple and kiss and hug one another!"

Stephanie gagged loudly and said, "Just because Carlos smells good and has nice muscles and is all male…"

Heidi frowned as Stephanie drifted off into her thoughts. She tapped the woman's shoulder and said, "Hello….earth to Stephanie!"

"No! I don't do rape!" Stephanie shouted, startling Heidi, "Oh, sorry, I mean…Uh…he's a jerk, no come on, let's get your uniforms."

"Okay…Lula's fine, if you're wondering, of course you are! She was the victim of a serial killer!" Heidi said brightly, making Stephanie look over to her, "At first she was hostile, because she thought that we were like giving her a handout, but then Tank got all Tank and he said that Lula would be working around Grandma Mazur's house and then at Rangeman with him. After that Lula got nice and chipper, I guess she doesn't want to be seen as a burden…I guess."

"Maybe," Stephanie said, shrugging, "But she's not a burden, we want to take care of her, humans, such fickle creatures…"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It took Diesel a while to shake Carlos off his ass, but at 11:45, Carlos was off at Rangeman and Diesel was down at the end of the plaza strip, waiting for Heidi, whom he hope would chicken out on this night trip. That way he could rub it in her face that she was a cop out. Diesel chuckled and then turned his head as he heard Heidi's voice drift over to him.

"Okay, I'm here, Diesel, see, told you, I'm not a goody two shoes!" Heidi said smugly, crossing her arms and looking at Diesel, who nodded his head and walked over to his baby, the motorcycle he just finished fixing up, "Oh…what is that?"

"Our ride for the night," Diesel said, climbing on the motorcycle and holding up two helmets, "I told you, we're having some nighttime fun, hop on Kitten, we're going to have a hell of a night."

Heidi bit her lip, giving the motorcycle a serious look, before she squared her shoulders, gave Diesel a determined look and said, "Okay, let's do it, I want to ride!"

Diesel smiled as Heidi took the helmet from his hand and put it on. He helped tighten the strap and then he was putting his own helmet on, grunting as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. He told Heidi to hang on tight and then he revved up the engine to his bike, breaking the silence and then turned the light on. Diesel then kicked the stand up and roared down the street, Heidi behind him screaming right in his ear.

That was totally worth the hearing loss he'll incur from her screeching. Diesel drove down he empty road, until they were just outside of Trenton, he turned down a dirt road and they rode in silence for 40 minutes before Diesel pulled up to small pond that was only lit by a single light post. Diesel stopped the motorcycle and then pried Heidi's hands off his waist. He helped her off the bike and said, "Here we are, part one of our nighttime fun."

"A pond?" Heidi asked as Diesel led her over to the edge of the water, "I don't see how this is night time fun."

"Of course not, Miss Priss," Diesel said, looking over to Heidi, "We're going for a night swim! Come on now, take that dress off so you don't get it wet."

Diesel heard Heidi squeak and would have paid top dollar to see her face heat up like a light bulb. Heidi turned to Diesel and exclaimed, "Take my dress off?!"

"Yeah, unless you want to go swimming in it," Diesel said, unbuttoning his flannel shirt and tossing it off, "Come on, don't be a prude."

"I don't know how to swim," Heidi said, looking over to Diesel, "Is the pond deep?"

"It's pretty deep, but don't worry, I'll catch you, promise," Diesel said turning to Heidi as he shucked his shirt off and pulled his pants down, "Come on, don't be a wimp."

Heidi puffed up, like a kitten and then tossed off her dress and kicked off her shoes. In the only source of light, Diesel could see that Heidi had on a pair of blue panties and a matching bra. For a small thing she sure was endowed. Heidi gave Diesel a glare and said, "Stop ogling my breasts and get in the water!"

"Yes ma'am," Diesel said, turning away from Heidi and walking over to the pond and jumping in, "Holy shit! It's freezing! Well, come on, Goody two shoes, I'll catch, you, I promise!"

Heidi walked over to the edge of the pond, and dipped a toe in, squealing at the cold. She squawked loudly as Diesel splashed her with water and said, "Come on! Let's do this!"

Heidi watched as Diesel opened his arms out for her, a smile on his face. Heidi bit her lip and then, with a scream, jumped into the water. She had expected for the boy to say, "Jokes on you!" and let her sink like a rock, but Heidi felt strong arms wrap around her waist and then she was clutching tightly to Diesel, her arm wrapped around his neck. Heidi looked up at the boy who smiled and said, "See not that bad, right?"

"Right," Heidi said, nearly squealing as Diesel began to move, "What are you doing?"

"Swimming with you, Kitten," Diesel chuckled as, with ease, he swam with Heidi's weight on him, "It's no fun standing in one spot for the whole time."

Heidi closed her eyes as Diesel swam them around the small body of water. She clung tighter to Diesel as he pried her arm off his neck, "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to get you to enjoy yourself," Diesel said, letting Heidi grab at his forearms, "Okay, now relax and enjoy, I promise, I won't let you drown."

It took the girl a while but once she was used to the water, she was laughing and smiling at Diesel. It had the boy thinking that Heidi looked good when she was happy and carefree, when she let herself go. The light from the single lamp post did her no justice but she sure as hell looked good under it.

"Beautiful…" Diesel said, looking into Heidi's eyes and making the girl pause in her swimming.

"What?" She asked looking up at Diesel, "Hey now what's with that look…"

Diesel pulled Heidi to him and wrapped his arm around her waist he leaned forward and said, "You know, you look real good like, when you're happy and carefree."

"Really?" Heidi asked, biting her lip, "I thought I was carefree and happy all the time?"

"No, you're so full of tension, sometimes, gotta watch out for you," Diesel said, as they two of them drifted in the water, "It's like you're hiding something and it's getting to you."

"I'm not hiding anything," Heidi said, softly, pressing her hands to Diesel's bare chest, "It's just sometimes, breaking the rules isn't such a good idea, you know, things might happen…"

"I don't know what bad things might occur, but don't worry," Diesel said, his hands sliding up Heidi's side, "I'll protect you, promise."

"Okay," Heidi whispered, pressing her fingers into Diesel's chest, it amazed her to feel how hard his chest was, he was fit, "You won't cheat on my papers either, right?"

Diesel chuckled and said, "I can't promise you everything now, right?"

"Jerk," Heidi mumbled with affection, before they both settled into silence. They were quiet for a few moments, just looking at one another. Heidi didn't know if she had moved or if Diesel had moved because their faces were getting closer and closer, until their noses bumped one another, startling them. Heidi felt her face heat up and she said, in a quick voice, "I think I should get out the water now, I'm freezing."

"Yeah," Diesel said, leading Heidi over to the edge of the pond, "We should you know, get going, it's late like 4 in the morning, can you believe it? We've been swimming for three hours."

"Time flies when you're having fun," Heidi said, as she tossed her dress on, "Um, thanks for taking me out here, Diesel, I had a good time."

"I know you did," Diesel said, as he put his pants and shirt on, "How about we go to 7-11 and get a couple of microwave burritos and watch the sunrise."

"Okay," Heidi said, with dazzling smile as she and Diesel climbed onto the motorcycle, "I've never had a microwave burrito before."

"Well shit, you're in for a real treat!" Diesel said revving up the motorcycle and putting his helmet on, "Come on, orange juice goes good with a chicken and cheese burrito!"

As Heidi and Diesel made their way down the road, Heidi thought about the almost kiss she had with Diesel, had she really almost locked lips with the boy?! Holy shit…it wasn't like she had any way to compare kisses with anyone else, she never had a kiss before, all this love stuff was new to her. Oh goodness, what if they almost kiss again?! Eeep!

Heidi closed her eyes and tried not to think about it. She wrenched them open, however, when Diesel quickly jerked the motorcycle to the left. She squeezed Diesel's middle tightly and then the boy said, in a loud voice, "We got company, this jackass behind us is trying to clip us off the side of the road."

Heidi turned her head to see a black car zooming up on them. She let out a squeal as Diesel jerked the motorcycle again this time on the other side of the road. He curse loudly as he heard the car speed up almost hitting them. Diesel shouted at Heidi to hang on tight to him and when he felt her iron grip on hi waist, he was turning off the road and into a grassy field. He turned the light off to the motorcycle and drove through the field quickly until he made it to the edge of some trees. Once they were tucked inside the trees, Diesel killed the engine and pulled Heidi tight to him, whispering, "Don't make a sound, although that car was fast, it can't handle being off the road."

They sat on the motorcycle for a long time, listening for any car noises and the like before Diesel turned the engine on and, with caution, drove out the trees and field and back onto the road. The ride back into Trenton was a long and quiet one, with no crazy drivers trying to force them off the side of the road. Once they were back in Trenton, Diesel drove to the nearest 7-11, picked a few choice burritos and a large carton of orange juice and then drove Heidi to the park, where they sat and at burritos on top of the jungle gym, watching the sun rise. They spoke softly to one another and laughed at each other's comments. It was a good time for both children. Strangely, Heidi was sad when Diesel led her over to her townhouse, once he pushed his motorcycle near the garage.

"I had a good time, Diesel, besides the crazy car trying to kill us." Heidi said, with pure honesty, "Thanks for taking me out, can we do this again, maybe?"

"I'd like that," Diesel said, giving Heidi a dazzling smile, "Not so much of a goody two shoes after all, eh?"

"Who said I ever was?" Heidi asked, before she bit her lip and leaned forward and kissed Diesel's cheek, "Thanks, Thaddeus, have a good morning."

Heidi slipped into the townhouse and closed the door, all before Diesel could comment about the kiss. She smiled softly and then frowned saying, "Wait…why did I kiss his cheek!? Oh no…butterflies in my tummy, feeling faint, my goodness is this-"

"You sneaky snake!" Stephanie boomed from the kitchen entryway, "I go into your room at 1:20, thinking that you were all nice and sleeping and found that you're not there! Where the hell did you go?!"

"I uh…was with Diesel," Heidi said, as Stephanie walked over to Heidi and placed her hands on the girl's shoulder, "We just went out last night."

"Do you know how worried I was?!" Stephanie asked breathlessly, checking Heidi over, "There is a crazy woman out there, looking for you and you want to run off with your little friend? You-you-go upstairs, to your room, I don't want to see you for a while Heidi, you scared me last night, I was up all night worried for your safety, I thought someone had come in and taken you! I was so scare!"

Stephanie gave Heidi a quick hug and then pushed her to the stairs, "Go up there, I'll come get you, and then we'll talk."

Heidi turned to Stephanie and said, in a soft voice, "I'm sorry to have scared you, I didn't know you were so worried, I promise, no more night outs with Diesel."

"You're damn right," Stephanie said, with a weak chuckle, running a hand through her hair, "I'll bring you up some breakfast, go get some rest."

Heidi gave Stephanie a weak smile and made her way up to her room. She lay on her bed and sighed, looking out the window, apart from the car trying to mow them down, her night with Diesel went better than expected. Why did that car try to push them off the road, they hadn't done anything and the road had been empty, had she been the target of the person who had been driving the car? This was seriously scaring her now, to think, Diesel said she had nothing to worry about...yeah right.

"What's going on?" Heidi asked softly, burying her face in the pillows, "Why are there bad people after me? What's so special about me, except for a few gifts?"

TBC….

Next chapter is dedicated to Stephanie and Carlos going undercover and other exciting things! See you soon!