Spidey Sense & I Hate You

Ranger's POV-

"Enter." I barked out harshly. I have been in my office for only an hour and so far I have been visited by Bobby and Hal. Who knew who was at the door now, but I had a lot of paper work to catch up on and these constant interruptions were not helping.

The door opened and Ram walked in. "You got a minute, Boss?" He asked me. I let out a small sigh and Ram's eyebrows went way up and he started backing out of the office. I shook my head and motioned him in with my hand. He stepped forward and shut the door.

"You have ten minutes. Talk." I ordered.

"I just wanted to inform you that everything was okay and I'll never be late again to work." He informed me. Now one would think that since I was the boss I knew what he was talking about, but I had not a clue what one of my best employees was referring to.

"Explain."

He looked surprised before his blank face slid into place and I lifted an eyebrow to that. "Ava didn't tell you?" He asked clearly puzzled.

I shook my head. "Tell me what, Ram?" I questioned. I was seriously curious right about now and that was a new feeling especially when it come to my employees.

"Well, Ava called me the other night. It was very late and I was up. I couldn't sleep because of what was going on and I had been late to work twice in the last two days and I was stressing." Ram stated and continued to ramble. I pinched the bridge of my nose and wondered when my employees began to ramble.

"Ram." I called his name and he stopped talking. He looked at me with a bewildered look on his face.

"When did Ava call you?" I asked.

"About a week ago." He answered.

I nodded. "What time."

"It was about midnight." He replied. I let out another sigh and tried to think. If it was midnight here than it would have been about five in London. I was starting to think that Ava had my internal wake up in the morning clock.

"You were awake?" He nodded. "Why?" I asked.

"I was worried about letting you down because I had been late to work twice in row then I got a phone call so I couldn't go back to sleep." He confessed. Now this was interesting. I had put Bobby and Ram with Hal in charge of RangeMan while the rest of the core team had been in London. I knew that along with Cal and Santos that those five were thick as thieves. I also knew that as long as any of those five wasn't putting anyone in danger that they wouldn't rat each other out. So if Bobby knew that Ram had been late, he wouldn't have told me if it had been a valid reason. So why Ram was worried about letting me down when any other time I wouldn't have known bothered me.

"Why were you late, Ram?" I asked. I was worried what the answer was going to be. If Ram had taken up with drugs or alcohol, I wouldn't hesitate to fire him but it would bother me immensely.

"Um, my mother had a heart attack a little over a week ago and I've been with her at the hospital and worried about my dad and_"

I stopped him there. "Ram, stop." He stopped abruptly and looked at me. His blank face remained in place but I could tell by his body language that he was upset and worried about his job."You have nothing to be sorry for. Your mother needs to be your main focus right now. RangeMan second all the way. Understood?" I told him and he nodded.

"Yes Sir. It's just that I've never been late but I just couldn't help it."

I nodded. "You are an excellent employee and I value you and your talents. Don't worry about being late. Is your mother going to be okay?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "The doctors aren't really sure. They don't have a lot of hope especially now that she has had a second heart attack." He answered. I felt physically sick. My mother was one of the most important people in my life and I couldn't imagine being in Ram's shoes. I got up from my chair and rounded my desk. Perching myself on the corner of my desk, I had to ask.

"Did Ava call after your mother had the second one?" I questioned. I had a feeling with the first two visitors I already had this morning, I knew the answer.

Ram nodded. "She did. I had just gotten the call that she had another one and I was getting ready to head over there." He answered.

"What did Ava tell you?" I asked. But again I had a feeling I already knew.

Ram gave a small sad smile. "She assured me that everything was going to be fine. That you would understand and you would help as much as you could." He replied.

"Did you tell her what was going on?" I asked because it would be very weird if he didn't.

Ram shook his head. "I didn't tell her exactly. She asked me why I was up and I told her that I had a lot on my mind and I was worried about a few things. She preceded to tell me that everything was going to be fine." He answered.

My daughter was three for three. I wonder what else she had in store for her mother and myself. "Everything on our end is fine. Rest easy. Just worry about your mom. You said the doctors aren't hopeful." I stated.

He nodded then let out a breath of frustration. "That's what they say but I believe it's because she doesn't have the best insurance there is and they just don't care. They don't make a lot of money and I try to help out as much as they'll allow me too, but it isn't much. I told the hospital that I would pay cash if I had too, but they seem uninterested." He said clearly upset.

I grabbed a pen and a note pad. I jotted down my sister Celia's phone number and handed it to Ram. He took it gently but with a confused look upon his face. "My sister Celia is a very prestigious heart surgeon in Miami. She'll either bring your mom there or she'll come up here. Either way she'll help as much as she can. I'll call her to give her a heads up, but I want you to call her and set everything up."

Ram looked shell shocked at my statement. He started to shake his head slowly. "Sir, I appreciate it I do, but I don't think my parents will be able to afford this." He said as he finally managed to finish the sentence. I stood up and walked over to him.

"Family discount, Ram. Don't worry about it." I told him. He shocked look turned to confusion and I added. "No charge, Ram." I clarified. His look of confusion went back to shocked and he nodded.

"Sir, thank you very much. I don't know what to say." He said.

I clasped his shoulder in a tight grasp. "Ram, you are one of my best employees. You have done quite a bit for me, RangeMan, and my family. I'm happy to do it." I told him.

He nodded. "Thank you Sir." He said once more.

I nodded my head, let go of his shoulder, and put my blank face back on. "Now if you tell anyone about this conversation, I'll have to kill ya." I told him. He gave a slight smile.

"Yes Sir."

I nodded my head towards the door. "Now get out." I told him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement, mumbled thank you once more, opened my office door and walked out.

I sat back down at my desk and let out a sigh. I picked up the phone and dialed Celia first. She answered out of breath so I told her in a few short sentences the reason for my call. She said she would be extremely happy to help and she would be awaiting his call. I agreed to call her soon to talk more about family and we hung up.

With that out of the way, my thoughts went back to Ava and her phone calls. We hadn't yet told her about her punishment because of everything that was going on. By the time we touched down in Jersey, she was out like a light and slept for quite some time. She then woke up crying and calling out for Uncle Lester. We didn't understand that because she had never done that before, but we thought because he was so far away she was scared. So we called Lester and put her on the phone. She talked to him for about an hour before finally hanging up. That was last night and we still haven't talk to her.

Both her and Steph had been sleeping a lot more lately. Steph I knew it was because she was pregnant, even though she didn't know it yet and Ava was sleeping a lot because of all the sleep she missed out on when talking on the phone in London. Which brought me back to the present. I had a hunch that Ava's phone calls were more than just her getting bored.

I knew I needed to talk this out with someone before I went to Steph so I picked up the phone and dialed my second in command.

"Speak." He barked into the phone.

"My office. Now." I equally barked and hung up on the phone. I heard his office door open then close. I heard his footsteps coming towards my office before my office door swung open.

"Walking a little heavy footed, aren't we?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow and sat down in the chair across from my desk. "A lot on my mind. What's up?" He asked. I furrowed my eyebrows trying to think of where to start with what my gut feeling was telling me. I figured the beginning was as good as any.

"I've had three visitors this morning. Bobby, Hal, and last Ram and all them had one thing in common."

"Phone calls from Ava?" He asked.

"Two things then." "They each received a call from Ava at the time that something was amiss." I told him.

"Explain." He said, but he didn't look all that surprised. That had me even more curious, but I shrugged it off and explained what I meant.

"Bobby came first he wanted to know what kind of gift he could get Ava as a thank you. I asked him what he meant. He assumed Ava would have told me but he guessed not. He said right after we left he was thinking of proposing to his long time girlfriend. He had bought the ring and had it all planned out but he chickened out at the last moment thinking she would say no."

"Bobby said all this?" Tank questioned.

I nodded. "Yes and shut up and let me finish." I told him before continuing. "He said that about 2200 hours his time, his phone rang and it was Ava."

"That would be about three in the morning in London." Tank stated and I nodded.

"Ava asked him what was wrong and he told her. He was afraid his girlfriend would say no if he asked. Ava told him to go for it and he did; that same night. His girlfriend said yes. He was happy and wanted to do something for Ava for the encouragement." I finished Bobby's story.

"Okay. Why is that a big deal?" Tank asked me.

"It isn't." "My next visitor was Hal. Hal said that Ava called him the day after what happened at Pixie Park." I told him.

Tank furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why did she call him?" He asked.

"That's what I asked him. He said she called him in the late afternoon probably around her nap time. He just had a bad take down, was pissed off and was laying in the emergency room with a stab wound to his right arm."

Tank nodded. "I talk to him that day. He didn't mention Ava's phone call."

I gave a slight shrug. "He said she told him that everything would be okay and he would get his guy."

"He did. The next day." Tank offered the facts.

I nodded. "I know this." I told him.

"It all make sense now that I've heard about her calls to Bobby and Hal." Tank stated.

I held up my hand. "I'm not finished yet." I told him. He motioned for me to continue and I then told him Ram's story. Once I finished I waited for Tank to say what he was going to.

Tank nodded. "Lula said that Ava called her not long after we arrived in London." Tank started. "Lula was crying and really upset. She been up most of the night. Ava called her and asked her what was wrong. Lula in a state of distress admitted that she was afraid that I would meet someone in London, fall in love, and never come home. She confirmed that Ava soothed her over and assured her that I loved her and couldn't live without her." Tank explained.

My brows furrowed in complete confusion. My daughter was picking up on other people's emotions when she wasn't anywhere near them. Now normally I wouldn't find this odd. After all Steph was famous for her always on cue spidey sense. But how would Ava know which person to call? It could have been over several dozen different people so how could she even began to guess which person?

"Didn't Ava say she called both your dad and Steph's dad?" Tank interrupted my train of thought. I wasn't in the room at that time, but Steph had told me that Ava called them.

I nodded. "She did."

"Why don't you call Mr. Plum or Ric to see what was said?" Tank offered. I should do that and I was going to especially before I talked with Steph, but I had other things to do at this moment.

I shook my head. "I'll have to call later. I have tons of paperwork to do before lunch. I promised Steph and Ava I would join them on seven." I explained.

Tank nodded. "Gonna ground her?" Tank questioned with a grin upon his ugly face.

"We're going to talk to her about it. Let her know the consequences of what she was doing. So yes, we are going to ground her." I answered.

Tank nodded some more. "When is this punishment of Kloughn's going down?" Tank asked.

That made me smile. That was going to be a lot of fun; messing with Kloughn. The man just had it coming. He was such an idiot. "This Saturday. I've already scheduled the spa that day for Steph and Valerie."

"What exactly did you scheduled? There is a million different things they could have done at the spa." Tank wondered.

"I told them that it didn't matter. Whatever the girls wanted to give it to them. I didn't name specifics."

Tank nodded. "What exactly do you have planned for Kloughn that day?"

I gave a small shrug. "Just intimidation. Get some work done for Valerie. I couldn't believe what Steph told me." I stated.

"What did Steph tell you?" Tank asked.

"That Kloughn said that taking care of kids is all women's work. Steph said after she talked on the phone with Valerie, she's now pretty sure that means housework too."

Tank made a tsking sound and shook his head. "That man is a dumbass." Tank replied.

I nodded. "Yes he is."


Steph's POV-

"Babe, that stuff will kill ya." Ranger told me with a smile in his voice. I stuck out my tongue and he arched a brow. "Playing with fire, Babe." He warned me. Who wouldn't want to play with Batman. Anytime he wants to play, I'm completely up for it.

I smiled. "Promises, promises." I teased him.

The sound of Ava's little footsteps halted Ranger's next words, but I knew whatever it was would have been good. Oh well, maybe next time. Ranger showed up about ten minutes ago and I was already eating. Ava had been asleep at the time. She was sleeping quite a bit lately, but Ranger assured me that she was fine. It was just from her lack of sleep in London so I let it go.

Ava entered the kitchen and a frown immediately crossed her features. "You started without me." She stated sadly.

Ranger held out his hand. "We are sorry, Querida. We didn't want to bother you while you were napping." Ranger explained.

"But I wanted to eat with you, Daddy." She pouted.

"We're sorry, Ava. But we're not through eating so you can finish with us." Ranger told her.

She shrugged. "Okay." She said as she looked at my plate than Ranger's. "What's to eat?" She asked. Ranger was of course eating a salad with grilled chicken and Ella had brought me fettuccine alfredo. I knew Ava wouldn't want either dish.

I got up, rounded the island and grabbed Ava's plate out of the microwave. I placed it in front of her and she lit up with a smile. "Pizza!" She happily shouted before digging in. Both Ranger and myself laughed and went back to eating. Ava perched herself on Ranger's left leg with his arm around her waist as he ate with his right hand.

I watched them with a feeling of utter wonderment. Five years ago I never would have envisaged myself being in an exclusive relationship with Ranger and having a daughter that was not only the best of Ranger and myself, but was a well-behaved, loving, sweet, and a very smart child. Not only that, but I was good mom. My daughter loved me and respected me. I couldn't wait to add another little member to our family.

We finished eating and I cleaned up the lunch dishes. Once that was finished, we turned to Ava. She was sitting on the chair that was pulled up to the island and she was staring at us with a frown upon her face.

She knew she was in trouble, but I wondered if she knew what for. "What?" She pondered. She was thinking hard, but she was coming up with nothing. We decided to help her out.

"Ava Marie, do you remember what we discussed in London?" Ranger asked her. Her small brown eyes widened at his words and she realized what our conversation was going to be about.

"Yes Sir." She admitted. She looked so forlorn that I had trouble keeping the smile off my face. Her punishment wasn't going to be that bad, so really she had nothing to worry about.

"Your mother and I have decided what your punishment is going to be." Ranger stated. Ava nodded and Ranger continued. "You are not allowed to use the phone for a week starting tomorrow morning when you wake up." He told her.

Her eyes widened than narrowed. "Which phone?" She asked. I snorted and the corner of Ranger's lips twitched. I knew he was trying not to smile.

"All phones, Ava. The apartment phone, my cell phone, your momma's cell phone, any of your uncle's cell phones, RangeMan phones, Grandma and Grandpa Manoso and Grandma and Grandpa Plum's phones or anybody else's phone. Understood?" He confirmed.

She was concentrating so hard I was fighting to keep the grin off my face. "So not even Lula's phone?" Ava asked.

"Not any phone, Ava Marie." Ranger stated once more; a little firmer. She glanced at me with a help me look and I shook my head. "I agree, Ava." I told her.

She pursed her lips, clenched her jaw, and her little knuckles were white from holding her hands into a tight fist. "That's mean." She said.

Ranger left his position of leaning against the counter to walk over to her. He lifted her up and placed her on the counter. He planted a hand on either side of her and kissed her forehead. "Ava, we are not trying to be mean. You need to learn that you must ask permission to use the phone first. And when you do something that you aren't suppose to, there is consequences to your actions." Ranger tried to explain.

She looked a little confused. "But I hafta to call Tio Lester in London." She pleaded with Ranger. What she didn't know is that Ranger would not cave. He's tough. Me, I'm more of a softie.

"You can email Lester in London until next Friday. Then you may call him." Ranger informed her.

Her frown deepened. "I wanna call him. I hate email." She stated; her voice wavering with tears.

Ranger shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it is not up for discussion, Ava." Ranger told her.

Her arms crossed over her chest and her lower lip went out in a pout. "I want down." She told him. Ranger nodded. He picked her up and sat her on her feet. She sent Ranger and me a glare and planted her hands on her hips.

"You're mean. I hate you." She yelled at us both before running off into her room. We both flinched when we heard the door slam shut to her room.

"Where the hell did she learn that word?" Ranger asked; clearly upset.

I shrugged. "She's a little girl. She's mad. I said it all the time when I was little." I told him.

Ranger shook his head. "I don't care. I don't like those words coming from her." He admitted.

I put my arms around his waist and squeezed. "Just wait. She'll come back and say she didn't mean it. It's just her first punishment and she doesn't understand why it's wrong to call family. No matter what the time." I told him.

"Maybe I should forgo the punishment." He wondered. I didn't know what to say. Ranger always sticks with what he says so this was really different. I knew it had to be getting to him especially now that Ava told him she hated him. Those words always get to ya.

"That will only teach her that if she whines or throws a fit, then she'll get her way." I gave his waist a squeeze. "Trust me, Carlos. I told my dad I hated him all the time. She'll get over it. I promise." I tried to reassure him.

He nodded. "I hope so." Who knew that three little words coming from a pint size little girl would have Batman feeling unsure of himself and his actions. I hope she recanted those words and soon.


Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Leave reviews please!