A/N: Sorry this update took so long. I had anticipated to update a lot sooner, but life happened. :( This chapter is inspired and also dedicated to trhodes9 who had very strong opinions on chapter 29 and how I didn't deliver further explanations. I hope this somehow smoothes things over for you :)

Also, a guest review asked what my next story plan is and well... without saying too much it wil be the classical Amnesia Story with a twist. :)

Hope you enjoy. There's only one epiloge left after this...

To say that life throws you some very odd curveballs was an understatement. My entire life was the best example for that. And would become even more so this very morning when I entered my office later than usual – you could blame Carlos' and my morning activities that I would easily classify as workout, despite the fact that sport was the furthest away from our minds that moment. I didn't have any meeting or clients waiting for me and as far as I knew Rebecca and Mackenzie were out and about – so no one really noticed. Maybe Cal did, but he knew better than to comment. And why should he anyway?

The mail had already been distributed and my desk looked like I could rival the local post office. There were larger stacks of envelops and a small stack with two or three parcels. I had ordered a few things lately and was assuming these were the first deliveries. Quicker than anticipated, not that I minded much. I sat down and started going through my mail, opening envelops and finding in the bigger ones unsurprisingly contract papers for new clients and the likes. Most of our clients wanted to get the paperwork checked by their own lawyers, which was fine by me. And often enough they sent the papers through regular mail. So the stacks were very unsurprising to me, but sometimes rather time consuming to work through. Especially since they also needed to get filed.

"I need an assistant," I joked at Cal who had wandered over from his office and was leaning casually against my door frame while I was working through my mail.

He laughed at my statement and shook his head. "As if you would ever be able to actually delegate your work. You love your stacks of papers and post-it's and whiteboards with meetings and chaos. And you love your mail. Secretly anyway. Also, it is a rather quiet day for you."

"I guess you are right," I laughed, while ripping another envelop open which was somehow stood out from the rest. "But I can at lea-" What the hell?

"Are you okay, Bomber?" I heard Cal ask concerned a moment later while I re-read what I was holding in my hand. "Steph?" he tried again a few moments later after I had not responded and he probably grew even more concerned.

"Could… if I ask you to pinch me, would you do it? Just take make sure I'm not having an odd dream?" I asked after I had re-read the letter twice more.

"This is from Morelli," I just said as if that actually explained anything.

"He sent you a letter?" Cal asked confused. "Why? What's in it? God, please don't tell me it's a love letter. And if it is, could you give me a day as head start to get far, far away before you tell Ranger?"

"It's not a love letter."

"A warrant?" Cal asked even more confused now. And what did that tell you about Morelli's reputation with the Merry Men when seemingly the only two options why Morelli would send me paper mail were either a love letter or a warrant.

I shock my head at Cal's latest attempt at guessing the context of Morelli's letter.

"No. It is a CV."

"I…wait… Come again? A CV?"

"He's applying for a job," I just said, sounding as incredulous as I was feeling.

"At RangeMan?" Cal asked, seeming still as confused as a second ago. "Where Ranger works? And where he is bound to run into him every single day and also would need to take orders from? And also would try not to kill him on a daily basis?"

"I…yes," I said dumbstruck.

"Is he trying to win you back?" Cal asked stupidly, which made me laugh for a second.

"By working for a company that he hates and a guy he despises? I don't think his eagerness would go that far."

"What did he apply for?" Cal asked after a moment of thought, while stepping into my office and positioning himself behind me, reading over my shoulder what I was holding in my hands and by now had probably read half a dozen times.

"Interesting," I mussed for a moment. "He included several 'suggestions'."

"Suggestions?" Cal asked confused.

"His first choice would be the liaison between RangeMan K9 and TPD as well as of course head of that department. Of course."

"Um… wouldn't that sort of put you out of a job? Seeing that technically you are the liaison and the head of that department?"

I just shrugged at Cal's question, moving on to Morelli's next suggestion. "Well, if that isn't possible or available he would also settle for a managing position," I just said even more confused. "We don't even have managers. I mean… we do have rather flat hierarchies…."

"Basically, you and Ranger on top and the rest of us beneath you," Cal laughed and despite him being wrong in a way he also wasn't entirely off. Somehow everyone handled sort of everything as me being CEO and having spun everyone into doing a bit of everything had proven. RangeMan didn't have the typical hierarchy pyramid most companies would showcase. "Maybe he refers to office manager," Cal remarked.

"Ohhhh, maybe I get my assistant after all," I said, feeling almost like clapping. Cal snickered at my odd excitement.

"Do you actually think Morelli could work under you, with you being his boss?" he eventually asked and I just shrugged.

"Clearly, he seems to think so, since his CV and covering letter are addressed specifically to me. I mean the envelope itself is addressed to me as well. But…. Um, no. He wouldn't be. He was barely able to take any order from me while we were dating, I hardly believe that this would change when it comes to professional life. Basically he is a misogynistic prick, in private and professional life."

Cal just nodded at my summary and before either of us could question my mail any further, I took to my phone and dialled the TPD, hoping to reach a friend. Maybe Eddie or Carl would be on duty and could help clearing up my confusion.

I was in luck since Eddie picked up after only two rings and I was certain if anyone could answer my questions it would be Eddie.

"What's the news with Morelli?" I asked after a few moments of small talk. By now I had Eddie on loudspeaker so Cal could listen in as well. Might as well quench both our curiosities.

"What do you mean?" Eddie asked confused back. I wasn't entirely sure how much I was actually allowed to say and if his application didn't fall under data protection, so I tried staying vague, hoping Eddie would take the bait.

"I…um… I heard these weird stories," I tried. Usually that almost always worked and was enough reason for the other person to start off on an endless story and gave you all the gossip. In the Burg it didn't take a whole lot to get gossip without seeming too obvious.

"Wow, that took a long time to make its way to you," Eddie remarked and I was even more curios now. So there was a story.

"Yeah, I have been rather busy lately, so it might have taken longer to catch up on the current gossip," I prompted.

"Oh yes… I heard about… Ranger's return. Crazy story. After all this time and everyone thinking he is dead…"

He left the last part hanging in the air, maybe realizing that this might not be my most favourite topic and time to reminisce about.

"So… anyway, Morelli," he went on after a few long, silent moments. "Rumour has it the Feds are what cost him his job with TPD. And the fact that he stuck his nose into business which wasn't his to get involved with in the first place."

"Um….okay," I just said, slightly shocked to learn that seemingly Morelli was no longer a cop. "And TPD did just let him go? I mean, yes he was a horrible person most of the time, but a good cop. And also, TPD is just massively understaffed. It isn't like there is a wide pool of applicants to choose from either."

How come I had not heard about that before? Mary Lou was usually rather reliable on this kind of news.

"Well, normally they would probably have slapped his wrists and warned him to stay out of stuff that isn't his concern and business, but there had been supposedly quiet a long list of complaints from all over the place and alphabet agencies. There were also some notions for involving IA and that was the straw that broke the camels back. Because, once IA gets involved good luck. I wasn't even aware that the alphabets could file complains with our IA."

"What was IA's involvement?" I asked, not knowing a lot of about TPDs Internal Affairs, but assume it was serious business.

"Well, the notions filed with them were mainly to investigate Morelli's mysterious appearance at a lot of scenes that were not his to show up in the first place."

"Does anyone know what he was actually doing there? I mean, I assume we are talking about cases that couldn't have been on his desk?" I ask, thinking back to that one incident a whole long while back, when I had just made it back from Denver and was called out again, only to face Morelli and some pissed of Fed.

"The cases and guys were beyond Morelli's paygrade. A few suggested he has an odd variation of a hero complex in a way. And him showing up at scenes gave him a feeling of getting stuff done and saving the world – so to speak. Also, he might have been there for the praises and likes. Never hurts to be in the Feds good graces and maybe have them owe you a favour if you spin it right."

"In a way it does sound like him," I admitted and saw Cal next to me nod slightly.

"There was however a common theme to the scenes he shows up at," Eddie went on and I was wondering whether he choose only the most violent ones or the ones of one certain agency, giving him a feeling of being part of something.

"What was the common theme?" I asked curious.

"It were all… um… RangeMan cases," Eddie replied after a short pause.

"I guess that might explain a lot of unanswered questions and odd feelings I sometimes had. Feeling like I saw him way too often and since we were no longer dating it couldn't have ben courtesy visits. I take a wild guess than and say that the BS he was talking about some of our guys being cases on his desk was not true, was it?"

"Not really," Eddie admitted. "I mean, Morelli was a good cop, without question, but as said already, some of these guys were way above his paygrade. A few have apparently overheard him saying that he supposedly mentioned of basically trying to overrule you and that you were in way over your head and in desperate need of help and should leave it to… um… real men. And that you should call him before you would screw up again and … um…stop being a bitch. Most of us just figured he was still bitter about the rather public breakup."

I rolled my eyes at that comment, because once again it sounded just likely Morelli. Some things were just too predictable.

"It isn't like I wasn't letting men do all the work. I usually just showed up when I was called due to a problem arising. Most often a problem caused by him."

"I guess he saw it differently."

"That leaves the question how he knew where to show up at. Most of the locations weren't well known and often enough we ourselves didn't know until an hour or so before the capture."

"A wild mix of things really. Sometimes he was tipped of by friends working for various branches and owed him favours he was calling in now. Sometimes he probably overheard one of your guys talking whenever they picked up lunch or dinner. And quiet honestly, I wouldn't put it beneath him to actually tail one of your RangeMan vehicles and just…. Following. He is a cop after all, so he knws all about tailing someone without drawing too much attention. Maybe you guys should look into filling a report as well…"

"First of all… I haven't had any desire to do so until now, so I think I'll pass. Also, that would be Ranger's problem now anyway. And I can't picture him actually going down that route either. He's probably just glad to not have to deal with anything Morelli-related anyway."

"I can imagine," Eddie agreed with a soft smile in his voice. It had never been a big secret that Ranger and Morelli barely tolerated each other's presence. Throw me into the mix and things sometimes could get a bit messy. Morelli's professional opinion about Ranger and his men was that they were all thugs and out to rob grannies of their life savings. Ironically that he now wanted to work for a thug's company.

"How is your man anyway? I… assume he is your man?" Eddie went on asking, before sounding careful for a moment.

"What makes you think otherwise?" I asked surprised and heard him clear his throat.

"Well, I have only heard a few reports about what could be witnessed at the fundraiser a few weeks back. And since we didn't have had time to actually exchange …. Um … stories, I am not sure how thigs are for you or between you."

"Things are good. And… well, his return was a bit of a shock, not gonna lie. But we worked things out."

"I'm sure you did," I heard Eddie laugh and a moment later we bid our farewells.

"And what do I do with this now?" I asked, looking questioningly at Cal by my side.

"Well, depends on whether you want to offer him a job," Cal asked amused and with a smile.

"Are you insane? Imagine how we were during our relationship and probably quadruple that misery. I would want to strangle him every single second of my workday and am almost certain he would manage for me to not ever get any work done anyway. Also… not sure about Ranger's reaction."

"What am I reacting to?" I heard coming from the door from the man itself. A second later he was in my office and Cal more or less gone quicker than I had ever seen anyone flee a scene.

When there was no immediate answer from me, Ranger just looked at me. "Babe?"

"Um… I'm trying to find the right words to actually explain this. But I'm not sure there are the right words. So I'm just going to say it. Morelli applied for a job at RangeMan. A job that doesn't exist or puts me out of an occupation."

"I was wondering what he might be up to now that he is out of a job," Ranger replied, sitting down on the corner of my desk. Interesting, how that usually was my pose on his desk.

"You knew?" I asked surprised a moment later when his words registered.

"You didn't?" he asked surprised back. "I figured you would have known way before me. The only reason I know is because me and Tank overheard a couple of cops discussing Morelli when we made a drop off. Which brings me back to my initial question, what am I reacting to? You don't consider giving him a job, do you?"

Instead of replying I let out a strangled laugh. "Not this lifetime or the next. No worries there. But that now makes me wonder what to do with his application? I mean… do I respond?"

Before Ranger could reply, Cal was back in my office. "Leave it to me," he said, bringing his hand towards the paperwork on my desk.

"Cal, you are not my secretary. This is so not your job."

"I know, but with me telling him no, he'll always wonder whether you ever saw this to begin with or whether we intercepted it from ever landing on your desk, robbing him of another chance of… screwing with you. That way you won't have to deal with it and don't waste more time on that guy than you already did right now. And you can let the boss be the only one keeping you from getting any work done."

I laughed at his last comment, as did Ranger. Because we both know, Cal was right. With everything he had said in regards of Morelli or Ranger keeping me from getting work done. Not that I minded the later one.

"What can I do you for?" I asked playfully and saw a movement in Carlo's face that resembled him thinking about actually smiling for a second. Instead of an actual smile or an answer I got his usual "Babe" thrown my way.

"What? It isn't like you haven't seen me a few mere hours ago. So… one has to wonder what's on that mind of yours."

"I can guarantee you, it's mostly you who keeps occupying my mind. And most certainly a very certain activity as well. But neither is the reason I'm actually here. Have a late lunch with me?"

"Um… sure," I replied a little confused. "But I'm certain you didn't need to make your way up here just for that. There is after all an invention called phones. Or even an E-Mail."

"Babe, if I can't make time to see you and just write you an email to schedule lunch, when we are one floor apart, you are allowed to shot me. You are worth the time and certain worth more than just an email."

And just like that I might have swooned a little bit. Despite the fact that it had been a while now since Carlos had managed to step back into my life I was still trying to get used to 'relationship-Carlos' and the things he could say.

"Any reason for our lunch?" I asked and saw him shack his head.

"Not really, other than spending time with you. Not every lunch we have needs to be a business-related lunch," he laughed, pushed himself of my desk, walked around my desk and pressed a quick kiss onto my lips a second later. As quickly as he started, he finished and was gone another moment later, leaving me to my piles of mail and post-its.

Maybe I really needed an assistant.