Don't own the character.
Cute little fluffy one shot for Ranger's Birthday.
Thank you Heather for getting this Beta'd so quickly today, especially when it was a mess from me using my phone and using voice typing.
Ranger POV:
Today has been a fucked up day. I just got in at midnight from covering the evening shift, then I got a call at 2 a.m.; there was a break-in at our most valuable account. At 6 a.m. Ram and Lester rear-ended another car on their way back from trolling bars.
Ella is sick, which means all of us are on our own for food. My mother started calling me at 8 to see if I was coming over today so they can throw me a birthday party. I tried to explain to her that half my guys were out sick, and I was having to cover shifts and pull in contract workers.
At 8:30, my sister started bombarding me with calls trying to guilt-trip me into coming. At 9:15, Tank walked into my office to tell me that the joint investigation we were doing with the FBI had to a major fuck up concerning chain of evidence. At 10, a scheduled take-down for a medium high bond went bad for Cal; he was shoved down a flight of stairs and broke his leg.
More than half my guys were now out with some type of injury or the flu but that had been spreading around the office. At noon, I found myself on Stark Street trying to get my informants to talk to give me more information on the joint case with the FBI. Standing at the end of the block talking to my informant, who was a drug dealer my Turbo is parked on the street. a piece of shit Nova came barreling down the street and rammed into the side of my Turbo, driving it across the sidewalk and into a building.
Three hours later, and two missed meetings later, I was finally on my way back to Rangeman when Stephanie's trackers went offline. Grabbing my phone I dialed her number and she answered on the second ring.
"I'm okay Ranger. Just another car gone; at least I don't have to replace my purse this time."
"Do you need a ride?" I asked her, hearing the cop yell and scream in the background.
"If you're not too busy."
"Be there in 10, Babe."
Pulling up to the scene, I saw Stephanie's latest piece of shit; a charred crisp of an Explorer. The cop stood in front her, yelling and waving his arms. As soon as she saw me, she perked up and walked around him. He continued to berate her. I watched her turn and give him a very familiar Italian hand gesture before completing the trek to the car.
"Thanks for coming and picking me up, Ranger. If you'd have been just a few more minutes you would probably be bailing me out of jail right now."
I chuckled softly. "but I'm glad I wasn't in a few minutes later."
She turned to me, fixing her blue eyes on me. "Are you too busy for lunch today?" she asked, softly.
"I'm never too busy for you, Babe."
She smiled softly at me.
Steph and the cop had been broken up for three months now. I still hadn't made my move. I couldn't, not knowing if they were going to get back together or not. Rumors were they had, but all they were only rumors.
I drove us to Shorty's and Steph smiled. Putting my hand so small of her back, I led her inside. We found a secluded booth in the back an order.
She sat across from me in the booth, fidgeting. Her purse was in her lap; one hand clung to it, the other was fidgeting on the table.
"You okay, Babe?"
"I'm okay." She paused, her eyes locking with mine. "I have something for you. "
"Babe?"
"Well, today's your birthday. I wanted to get you something," she said. I watched as she pulled a box from her purse. It was a black box six inches long, two inches wide. It had a black silk bow tied around it.
I took it in my hands. "You didn't have to, Babe." I told her. I knew money was tight for her most of the time; I didn't want her wasting money on a present for me.
"Just open it. "
I open the box, revealing a knife. The handle was wood dyed of black color. and it had a sheath over the three-inch blade. I pulled it from the sheath to reveal a curved blade. There was an engraving on the side of the blade.
don't get shot
" I love it, Babe."
"I hoped you would. Happy Birthday."
I grinned at her. "Just another day," I told her.
"It's not just another day." She rolled her eyes.
"Babe, will you come do some searches today? Over half the guys are out with injuries or with the flu."
"I don't want to get sick."
"You can work from my office."
"Where will you be?"
"Everywhere," I told her.
She agreed. Once we left Shorty's I pointed the car towards Rangeman. "What's going on between you and the cop, Babe?" I found myself asking.
She glanced over at me. "We're done. He doesn't want to admit it. I told him weeks ago we were through, and my mother keeps telling him I'm wanting to get back together with him."
"And are you?" I asked her, pulling into the garage.
"No." She shivered. I parked and turned to look at her.
"Why's this time different?" I asked her.
I saw something flicker in her eyes. "I'm not going to fit into the mold. I'm like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. It just won't work." She sighed.
"Does that upset you?"
"What? Not having the white picket fence and 2.5 kids? No, I just want a steady relationship." She told me. Her eyes conveyed something she wasn't telling me. There was relief along with an underlying sadness.
"What if I told you, I wanted that too?" I found myself saying. Steph's eyes changed; I saw hope, shock, and, dare I say, love.
"I would ask if you were ready for a relationship," she whispered.
"I am, only with you," I growled softly. I pulled her over the console and into my lap. My lips found hers, frantic. The kiss was all consuming; I needed more of her, my hands roaming over her body, finding their way under her shirt to the small of her back. Finding warm smooth skin. I growled into our kiss. Her hands tangled in my hair as she arched her body against mine.
"Ranger," She moaned softly.
"Carlos." I growled, moving to her neck. I nipped at the skin, causing her to gasp and roll her hips against me.
"Carlos," She moaned. My teeth nipped at her pulse point before I sucked the skin into my mouth. She moaned again. Her fingers tightened in my hair. There was and hard knock on the window, causing me to pull back and Steph to squeal. Tank stood with his arms crossed, Steph scrambled off of me, her face red.
I glared at Tank and got out. Steph slid from the truck and blushed. Tank chuckled. "You here to run searches?" he asked.
She nodded. "Thank god," he said. "We're so backed up."
She smiled softly at him but remained quiet. "I'm going offline tonight at six." I told him. "Will you be able to take care of everything?"
"Yeah we've got some guys coming in from Boston. We'll be covered."
I nodded and led Steph to the elevator. "What're you doing tonight?" I asked her. She shrugged.
"How does dinner sound?"
"Good," She answered. I smiled.
"Dinner with my family?"
I watched her eyes widen. She surprised me when she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. I grabbed her hips and kissed her back. "Thank you," She said softly.
"For what?" I asked her.
"Giving Someday a chance."
I smiled. "I love you, Babe."
I watched as her eyes filled with tears. "I love you too, Carlos."
I kissed her again, this time soft and lingering. "We're going to do this, and it's going to be good."
Thank you for reading and reviewing. Hope you enjoyed.