A/N: I posted chapters Tuesday and Thursday of this week, so if you haven't tuned in for a few days check them out! I hear alerts are glitchy right now.

Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making any money.

Previously

I walked over to the washer and dumped everything in before hunting for detergent. I found it in a cupboard beside the machine and dumped some on top. I could feel my mom cringing at my terrible laundry habits, but shrugged it off. I wasn't the domestic goddess idolized by the Burg, but I was starting to think that may be okay…

—-

By nine the next morning, I was pretty sure I was losing my mind.

I'd fallen asleep early out of pure boredom the night before and I'd woken up early as a result. Well, early for me. Apparently Ranger had been up for a few hours by the time I made my way to the kitchen. Turns out he's one of those people who get up, exercise and prepare a healthy breakfast.

My breakfast was healthy too, because that was the only option we had here. I would be having words with Tank if I saw him again. From what I understand, he had delivered groceries sometime during the unnatural hours of the morning and it was all rabbit food. Granted, the granola I had wasn't awful, but it was the principle of the matter.

I made it another half hour. By that point, every shred of evidence I'd found around E.E. Martin and the Romano family was perfectly organized, alphabetically and chronologically, and backed up to two places. I couldn't summon up an interest in TV or any of the books that were here. Instead, the little devil on my shoulder kept pointing at Ranger who was working diligently on his own computer at a desk in the den. I could see him through the doorway and was jealous of his focus and occupation.

It really didn't take too long for the little devil to win. Yesterday, he'd told me that his real name was Ricardo Carlos, but I assumed he had a last name too. I decided to send Connie an email rather than asking outright and she must have been bored because my inbox binged with a response a few minutes later.

The bulk of her email was devoted to enthusiasm about his appearance and I had to agree with her. He was quite possibly the best looking man I'd ever seen. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have much information beyond what I'd been able to gather with my own eyes. One of the things she did know, though, was his last name. Manoso.

And I was in business.

Within a minute, I had him plugged into my search software and the little magnifying glass icon spun at me as it did its thing. It seemed to be taking longer than the searches I'd done the last few months, but I summoned every shred of patience I had, hoping for something good to keep me entertained.

It finally dinged and I started reading only to be disappointed. Somehow, his birth date was blank and when I looked up the address that was listed I found an empty lot in an industrial park north of Trenton. I was just starting to get nervous about being locked away with this guy when I heard a throat clear behind me.

I jumped so hard that I fell out of my chair, landing in a less than graceful heap on the kitchen floor.

"Need a hand?" Ranger asked.

I debated for a second before reaching up and letting him pull me to my feet. I was pretty sure he knew what I was up to, but I didn't want to admit to anything until I knew I'd been caught.

"I get an alert anytime someone tries to run a background check on me," he said with an actual grin.

"Oh."

"Didn't find what you were looking for?"

"No," I said, looking at the wall over his shoulder. This was embarrassing, even for me. "You are actually human right?"

That got me a full laugh. He really had a nice laugh. It was soft and deep and I wanted to hear it again.

"Yeah, Babe. I just have a couple enemies and it would be better if they couldn't find me or track back to my family."

The idea of him maybe having a wife and kids gave me a weird, icky feeling that I shoved into the corner of my brain that I used for denial. I'd only known the guy for about twenty four hours. I didn't want to act like some sort of crazy chick with a crush. For all I knew he was completely nuts. He did seem really calm about the whole shooting thing. That certainly wasn't normal.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. "That makes sense. Um, sorry." I wasn't sure about the etiquette, but I was pretty sure getting busted snooping warranted an apology.

"Don't worry about it. I think I'd be more concerned if you weren't trying to verify information about the strange guy you're locked up with."

"Or I'm terminally nosey."

Ranger let out another laugh and I covered my face with my hands.

"I didn't mean to say that part out loud," I said.

"You need to work on that if you want to continue being a badass investigator."

"I'm not an investigator," I said out of pure reflex.

"Could have fooled me. Before I got interrupted by the notification that someone ran a search on me, I was reading an email from the FBI. Last night they did a sting on that warehouse you were watching. There were half a dozen girls in there, Babe. Two were underage and are back with their families. What you did was damn impressive."

I could feel my shock at his words written across my face. While I know my family loves me in theory, no one has ever really supported me having bigger dreams or doing anything that veered off of the beaten path. The idea that I could possibly do something else like the investigation into my case was a bit shocking. On one hand, my mind was rejecting it because that's not what girls from the Burg did. On the other hand, my inner Wonder Woman was cheering me on and ready for a life with more action.

"I'm just a girl from the Burg," I finally said.

"And I was just a boy from Newark. You look like you have some stuff you need to work your mind around. Why don't you go lay down while I make lunch? I'll call you in about half an hour."

"That sounds good. Thank you," I said. I was half way down the hall when I remembered to ask, "No rabbit food, right?"

I didn't get a response, but my mind was a bit too blown to care.

What did I want to do? Could it really be that easy to make a change?

I flopped onto my bed and let my mind wander.

I'd always floated through my life. I thought back to highschool where I had decent grades but never really tried. I could never out do St. Valerie, so what was the point? I'd studied dance, but that was something my mom enrolled me in. I'd been interested in volleyball, but it wasn't ladylike according to Burg standards and I hadn't fought to join the team. I majored in business in college on a whim. I was more interested in getting away from home than actually getting an education. Then, before I had a chance to use the degree I'd managed to earn, I wound up married to the Dick. Thinking about it like this, my marriage was something else I didn't actively choose. I let myself get steered into that one by my mom too. And then afterwards, my job at E.E. Martin was more about survival.

I was a bit shocked to realize I hadn't done something because it's what I wanted for a long time. The last thing I remember feeling strongly about was my leap from the garage roof. What the hell had happened to me?

I'd always been insistent that I didn't want the whole Burg life, but not only did I almost let myself get sucked into it with Dickie, I somehow ended up stalled and not knowing what it was that I did want.

I was shaken out of that depressing thought by a soft knock on the door.

"Lunch is ready," Ranger said and I heard him walking back down the hall towards the kitchen.

I pulled myself from bed and made a quick trip to the bathroom before joining Ranger in the kitchen.

It looked like he'd grilled chicken breasts. He had his over a salad, but he had sliced mine and made it into a sandwich.

"Thanks for lunch," I said. "I should warn you now, I'm not much of a cook. You probably don't want me making dinner."

"I think I can keep us alive."

"I'll do the dishes," I offered, not wanting to be a total mooch.

"That would be appreciated. They were always one of my least favorite jobs."

We ate silently for a while until I worked up the courage to ask a personal question. He'd offered a few breadcrumbs, but I didn't take him as an open person who shared easily.

"You said you were a boy from Newark. How did you decide to do more?"

He didn't answer at first and I was just about to change the subject when he spoke again.

"I bounced around a lot until I ended up in the Army. They helped me identify what I was good at and strengthen those skills." He gave a miniscule shrug of his shoulders like it was no big deal.

"That's it?" I asked. I could hear the skepticism in my voice. "You joined the Army and unlocked the secrets to the universe that led you to bounty hunting and hanging out with the FBI?"

"That's the abbreviated version."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I guess I'm still bouncing."

"All you have to do is decide to make a change."

I reached deep inside myself and the answer bubbled out all on its own. "I'm ready for a change."

"Carpe diem," he said, raising one eyebrow in a look that could only be interpreted as a challenge.

"Sure. On a diem where I'm stuck in protective custody. I've never been great at seeing all of my options and this doesn't help."

"The Army gives an aptitude test," Ranger said. "You just need to identify what you're good at and decide if you want to pursue it."

"That's the problem. I don't know what I'm good at or how to figure it out."

"Did you like digging into the Romano family? It was dangerous, but you stuck to it and did an impressive job."

"Yeah, actually. The last few months could have been horrible, but I was so focused that they weren't that bad."

"Would you like to do more work like that?"

I was starting to feel like Ranger was leading me somewhere and called him on it.

"What are you getting at? I don't like being bull shitted or the butt of someone's joke."

"No bull shit. I told you I'm trying to transition into the security business. There's going to be research required. I think you have a lot of raw talent and I'm curious what else you can figure out."

"It's worth giving it a try," I said. I really had enjoyed the work I'd been doing the last few months. The possibility of doing anything like it again hadn't crossed my mind, but now that I was thinking about it I was starting to feel excited. "Could you teach me some of what I would need to know while we're stuck here? Maybe enough to help me make a decision?"

"Yeah, Babe," he said. "This is going to be good. This is going to be like Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle do protective custody."

—

A/N: I know it's corny, but I couldn't help myself with the Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle comment :)

Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing!