Disclaimer: Still not my characters, although I wouldn't mind if they were.

Thank you to all of my reviewers, I love reading them. Thank you Heather (Txbabefan) helping me edit this.

Chapter 17

Wake Up

Angsty

Steph POV:

I sat next to Carlos's bed, holding his hand. They were slowly easing him off of the meds, trying to wake him up, but he had to wake up now. It was all on him. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I glanced up to see Tank. "Les is bringing us some lunch. Do you want to take a shower? I'll sit here with him."

"Thank you, Tank." I smiled weakly at him.

"Anything for you little girl," he said. He handed me the duffel bag and I squeezed Carlos's hand and kissed his forehead before going to the bathroom. I stood in front of the sink and untied my hair from the ponytail.

I heard Tank's voice float through the door. "Man, you need to wake up soon," he told Carlos softly. "It's breaking her heart to see you like this."

He paused, obviously listening for me in the bathroom. I reached in and turned on the shower and closed the curtain. "She's been here since that night. She refuses to leave. I try and stay with her as much as possible but I'm running the office. She doesn't want someone hovering over her, either. She wants to be alone with you. Dammit, Carlos, I'm telling you know you better wake your ass up soon." Tank finished after a long pause. I couldn't help but smile even as a tear ran down my cheek.

I slipped into the shower, letting the hot water beat against my muscles. I tried to relax but my shoulders were still tight. I was still stressed, worried about Carlos. When would he wake up? Would there be any complications? Would he have any limitations? How would we cope after this? I sighed and began washing myself, but all of the worries still floated around in my head. I knew the only way for me to relax was for Carlos to wake up. I slipped out of the shower and dried myself with one of the towels Ella had sent. After I dressed and got myself semi-presentable, I walked out to find Les with a bag from Pino's and Tank rolling his eyes.

"Hi, Les," I said as I walked over to him. I took the bag and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He grinned at me.

"Hi, Beautiful. I've missed you. Feels like I haven't seen you in forever."

"I see you almost daily," I said rolling my eyes. I saw movement in the corner of my eye as Rage strolled in. I grinned at him.

"Been a while," I told him.

"Tank has been keeping me busy," Rage said.

I turned to Tank, who glared at Rage. I smiled. "After lunch Tank do you mind having someone drop off my laptop. I figure while I'm here I can run some searches."

I settled back into my chair and Tank grinned at me. I passed out subs and everyone settled down somewhere in the room. "What's been going on at the office?"

"Not much," Les answered. "It's been surprisingly quiet."

"And Stark Street?" I asked. I knew Ranger had a standing down there; if his men didn't make an appearance every now and then, the gangs would start acting out and it would spell trouble for plenty of people.

"We're keeping up a presence," Tank answered.

I sank my teeth into the sub and moaned. This got chuckles out of the guys. I smiled at them, at least some things were still the same. The only thing that would make this better, would be if Carlos was awake. The rest of lunch passed with joking. Eventually they all had to leave, to get back to work. Rage stayed though. He smiled softly at me.

"He's going to be okay Steph."

"I know." I said softly. He patted my hand.

"How about I come by later and we catch up?"

"What's there to catch up on Rage?" I chuckled.

"I'll tell you how I got the name Rage." He smiled.

I raised both eyebrows. "Fine," I said. He grinned and dropped a kiss on my head.

"See you later," He said. I nodded. A little while later Bones brought me a stack of files and my computer. I thanked him.

I settled in to start some of the searches. As they ran, I decided to stretch and do some yoga. Tank had brought me a yoga mat a couple days ago saying I still needed to get some exercise.

I worked myself into a state of Zen before I started the routine I knew well. It brought back memories of Carlos doing it with me. I had always suspected that the man did yoga, but I had it confirmed when he came back from this last mission.

I was in the gym, on my mat. Currently I was stretching before standing. I moved into the dynamic downward dog pose. I felt a pair of familiar hands on my ass, moving to my hips.

"Carlos," I said softly turning my head to look at him. He smiled down at me.

"For once you're in the gym before me," he said as I moved to stand up. I pushed him off my mat with a smile and moved into the left warrior pose.

"Couldn't sleep," I told him.

"Any reason why Babe?" He asked grinning. He rolled another mat out next to mine and followed me into a right warrior pose.

"I was thinking about our date last night," I answered, moving into the tree pose.

"What about it?" He asked.

"Don't worry. I really enjoyed it. I just kept replaying it in my mind. I love dancing with you."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Maybe we can go out on another tonight."

I smiled at him. "Sounds like a plan Carlos," I said. He grinned and pulled me out of my current pose and into his chest.

"The guys are staring," I said, smiling.

"I don't care. They all need to know your mine." He dipped me slightly and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck as the men started to whistle and hoot.

"I think they already know," I smiled against his lips.

"I like to remind them every once in a while."

I found myself smiling as I thought about the memory. "What're you smiling about, Cupcake?" Morelli asked from the door.

"How the hell did you get in here?" I said standing. I slammed the computer shut and shut the open file.

"We have things to discuss, Cupcake," he sneered.

"Morelli, get out!" I growled.

"You can't make me," he said. He started stalking towards me.

I stood in front of Carlos, blocking Morelli from getting any closer to him. "Defending the great Manoso?" Morelli snickered.

"Fuck off Joe."

He reached for me, and I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. I shoved his hand up between his shoulder blades making him cry out. I kicked him in the back of the knees, causing him to fall to them.

"How did you get in here?" I growled in his ear.

"Fuck you." He growled. I twisted his arm more, pushing it higher. Much higher and I would dislocate his shoulder.

"Answer the question," I said. His other hand flailed backwards, trying to grab me. I slammed my elbow into the side of his head, stunning him.

"How did you get in here?"

"I distracted the men on the door. Paid a gang banger to grab a nurse and hold a knife to her throat," he growled.

"Have you always been this bitter?" I asked him. "What is your obsession with me? Why are you doing this?"

"I love you. You're my Cupcake. I was your first. You were meant to be mine. Your mom wants you to marry me. Manoso is a thug; you need to come back to me."

"Is it a competition Morelli? Are you mad you didn't get the girl?" I asked him.

He growled. "You are mine."

"I'm not yours's," I said.

"She's mine." Carlos said from behind me.

"Carlos," I said softly, glancing back at him.

"This is a hell of a scene to wake up too," Carlos whispered in a scratchy voice. "My fiancée, holding her ex in a defense hold. Him claiming her as property. Where are the men?"

"He had someone grab a nurse," I said.

"Call for them," Carlos told me.

"Cal!" I yelled. Two seconds later the door banged open, Ramon and Cal were in the room. Ramon yanked Morelli up and slammed him into the wall.

"He's awake," Cal said.

"He is," Carlos said. "Come here, Babe."

I settled on the bed next to him. He cupped the back of my neck, bringing me down to kiss him.

"You're in big trouble," he whispered, against my lips.

"For what?" I asked, meeting his gaze.

"Letting them put me in a coma."

"What're you going to do? Bend me over your lap and spank me?" I purred.

"Just wait until I'm out of this bed," he growled softly. I smiled.

"What do you want us to do with him?" Cal asked.

"Get him out of here," I said. "Give him a few bruises to remind him not to mess with us. We've got no proof of him doing anything wrong here."

Cal nodded. Carlos's brow furrowed as he watched them leave. "They follow your orders well," he said.

"I'm the boss's wife," I grinned. "They listen because they're scared I'll tell you."

He chuckled, but started coughing. "Let me go get the doctor. I'll be right back."

A/N: Short and sweet.