The Bat Cave Is Forever

I could have sworn my heart stopped beating when Ranger said those words to me. Lula was gawking at me like I had grown an additional head. "Are you sure?" I whispered, after Ranger was done laughing.

The window was still rolled down, and I could see the look on his face. Yeah, definitely sure. "So, you coming or not?" Ranger asked, making a come here motion with his finger. Hell, yes!

I snapped the cell phone shut and smiled at Lula as I swung my bag over my shoulder. "Excuse me. I have a ride to catch," I said, strolling out the door. Connie and Lula both stared as me as I slid into the front seat of Ranger's Mercedes. I could almost hear their thoughts psychically bombarding me. "So," I said, staring at Ranger. "When did you come to this revelation?"

He didn't smile, but I could see the corners of his lips turning up. That was the Ranger equivalent for an enigmatic smile. "About two minutes after I left your apartment building two months ago," Ranger replied. "If you'd been looking out the window instead of trying to figure out what had happened, you would have seen me walk around in circle for about five minutes. Trying to get the guts to come upstairs and tell you." That was a funny picture, Ranger walking in circle, trying to work up some guts. I started giggling. "What?" Ranger asked, rolling his eyes to glance at me.

"Just imagining you, walking in circles," I laughed until I gasped for air. "How many women have done this to you? Making you walk in circles."

Ranger grunted, and leaned back in his seat. "Just you. Not even Melissa," Ranger said. As I understood it, Melissa was his ex. "I don't know, Babe. You're driving me crazy. I told Tank I was going to be gone for a week, get my mind around you. I vanished, not the first time, mind you. But I kind of lost track of time. When I finally figured everything out, it was two months later, and life was definitely more interesting."

Slowly, things were making more sense. "So, that's why Tank kept calling me. He figured that if you were back, you come to me first." Which, obviously, he did. I glanced around at the area of Trenton that we were driving through. We were coming up on the Burg. "Where are we going?" Ranger did another one those enigmatic corner lip smile things. I knew this area, my parents lived around the corner. Ranger slowed and pressed a button on the dash, a garage door rolled up, and he pulled in. "You live in the Burg?" I asked, my voice cracking. Another one of those smile things.

We both climbed out of the Mercedes, and walked toward the door into the house. The kitchen was decorated in old lady. "This isn't your house, is it?" I asked, my heart hammering.

"Nope," Tank said from the living room.

Ranger grinned, "Nice try, Babe. The Bat Cave isn't in the Burg." Tank rose to his feet and handed Ranger a file. "Tank and I rented this house to do a little surveillance. The old lady who owns it spends winters in Florida. She wasn't the least bit concerned about letting us in. We saved her grandson's life a year ago." Ranger flipped through the file, and grunted. A few minutes later, we were back in the Mercedes, driving back out of the Burg.

"A day in the life of Ranger," I sighed, leaning back in my seat and closing my eyes. Seconds later, my phone rang. "Yo," I said, eyes still closed.

"Where are you?" Morelli demanded. "Your car is at Vinnie's but you're not."

"Are you stalking me?" I asked, opening my eyes. Ranger shot me a sideways glance.

"I'm a cop. I don't stalk, I pursue." I remember a time when the thought of Morelli pursuing me would have given me an on-the-spot orgasm. Now it just annoyed me.

"Then stop pursuing me," I snapped.

"You're with him, aren't you?" Morelli snapped back.

"What is your problem, Morelli?" I demanded, more annoyed then angry.

"We need to talk, Steph. I love you."

"Funny. You're always the second one," I said, and hung up the phone.

Finally, Ranger spoke. "Do you want to talk to him?" He asked.

I was silent for a moment, then I replied, "No." I paused for a beat. "I'm not in love with Morelli. Not anymore." I watched Ranger inhale sharply, and I could almost hear his heart racing. "I fell for you back in that parking garage. I just never thought you'd feel the same."

"You love me?" Ranger asked, his dark eyes sparkling.

Hell yeah! "Yes," I said calmly.

Ranger squealed the brakes, and stopped in the middle of the street. He turned to look at me, his eyes burning into mine. "Are you sure?" I made a face that must have gotten my point across. "I guess so."

He accelerated sharply and turned a wide U-turn, flying out of the Burg. We drove in silence for a few minutes, then turned onto a dirt road. Winter had attacked the trees, leaving them barren and desolate. Snow lay on the ground, and I was getting those fluttery feelings in my stomach.

We turned off the dirt road, and I saw a large house built of stone, blocked by a wrought iron gate. Out front the Bronco was parked, along with another black BMW. "Holy shit. You're not Batman," I said, under my breath. "You're Bruce Wayne." Ranger grinned at me.

He parked the Mercedes outside the front door, and jumped out. He walked around the door and opened it for me. "Welcome to the Bat Cave," Ranger said, leading me up the stairs to the front door. My heart was racing against my chest, and I thought I'd start hyperventilating any minute. "There has never been a single woman in this house, ever," Ranger said, taking my coat and hanging it in the closet.

I glanced around. The house literally looked like Bryce Wayne lived there. It was early contemporary, mainly wood, and some dark green. It definitely didn't look like Ranger lived there. But then, there were more facets to Ranger then even I knew. "Not even Jeanne Ellen?" I asked. I hate to admit it, but I was extraordinarily jealous of Jeanne Ellen, Ranger's trainee and rumored flame. Though the events of the past twenty four hours had changed that flame rumor.

Ranger grinned, and said, "Jeanne Ellen has never been here, Babe. Only you."

"This is a nice place. Not as cave-like as I expected, but…" Ranger's arms came around my waist, and my sentence was cut short by a passionate kiss, and he swept me up. All thoughts of looking around the house were erased from my mind as he carried me up the stairs.

Three hours later, I rolled over, and glanced around the room. It was decorated in the same dark varnished wood, and greens, but it had white in it as well. Ranger was curled up beside me, his arms wrapped tight around me. I moaned, and rolled back over, just as his cell phone rang. He grimaced, and flipped it open.

"Yo," he said. His eyes grew dark and hard as he listened. "I'm busy. I can probably manage it in an hour." I rolled out of bed and reached to grab my underwear. But Ranger grasped my waist and pulled me back into bed. "Make that two hours," Ranger finished, then snapped the phone shut and growled at me. I smiled as he rolled on top of me. "What do you do to me?" Ranger whispered, his strength possessing me. Again, I smiled. I felt him come around me, and I lost all sense of anything but him.

Another hour and a half later, we were on our way back down the dirt road. "I'll drop you back at the office," Ranger was saying. I was fixing my mascara and my hair, trying to make myself look like I hadn't been rolling around in an oversized four poster bed with the Wizard. "You look fine, Babe," Ranger said, reaching over and moving my hand from where it played with my bangs.

I snorted, "You're not Lula and Connie." Ranger grinned. I couldn't help it, I smiled back.

We pulled up in front of the office, and Ranger reached across me to open the door. Just as I was getting out, he said, "This should take me a while, but here." He handed me a key ring. "To the Bat Cave, if you want to meet me there, just page me. I'll tell you whether it's safe, or if I'll come to pick you up first." I nodded and headed through the cold to the office door.

Connie and Lula were waiting at the front door for me when I stamped in. Both of them had the mother hen look on, but underneath I could see the overwhelming desire to hold me down and deck me until I told them where I'd been for five hours. "Well," I sighed. "I'm bushed, I'm going home to bed." Ha, not like I haven't been in one for four hours.

"Not so fast," Lula said, catching me by my purse.

She was cut off as gunshots rattled through the storefront windows. Lula, Connie and I dove for the ground. Pain shot through my shoulder, and I cried out. On the floor, only feet from me, Lula was screaming, and holding her ears. Connie was crying in terror. My hands found my purse, and reached in. Without knowing what I was doing, I dialed Ranger's number. The door burst open, and a masked man came in holding a gun. He looked around, and saw me. I screamed, and lifted my gun.

I hadn't shot him, I thought I had, but he went down too fast. Lula had gotten to it first. With her stun gun. Seconds later, squealing tires arrived outside the door, and a huge black blur arrived in the door, though my tears. I was sobbing hysterically, curled into a ball on the floor. Lula was still holding her stun gun, and Connie was holding her Glock, pointing it at the masked man.

Ranger didn't bother stopping to check the guy. He didn't look left at Lula or right at Connie, he just strode the room in two steps, and swept me up. "You okay, Babe?" he asked, holding me. I nodded feebly, still sobbing. "I had only gotten to the stop light around the block when you called. Damn it, why wasn't I closer?"

I was crying so hard, I didn't care. I grabbed at his shirt, convincing myself he was still here. In the background, I heard Connie talking to a 911 operator. Before I knew it, the place was crawling with cops. Morelli was talking to Carl, and a couple of uniforms. Ranger sat beside me on the couch, his arm around me. The guy had been someone that I had gone after for FTA, and he thought killing me was better then going back to prison. He just wasn't counting on Lula and her stun gun.

Morelli glanced over to me, leaned against Ranger chest, breathing heavily. Ranger stroked my hair, and rubbed my shoulders. Morelli strolled over, his face grim. "All right, Stephanie. We don't need you anymore. You can go home," he said. "You want me to stay with you?"

I tensed up just enough for Ranger to feel it. "I got this one, Morelli," Ranger said, helping me up. I watched Morelli's eyes go dark and hard. "She'll be safe."

Lula glanced up, and watched me. I could feel her staring into my head. I lifted my head a bit, and motioned toward the door. Lula nodded. Ranger led me out, where Lula met us. "Listen, go home. Get some sleep. I'll be in tomorrow, and we can go over those skips," I said, hugging Lula. The large black woman, who I'd come to know as my trainee, embraced me tight.

"You hurt her, and I'll kill you," Lula said to Ranger. Ranger lifted an eyebrow, and stared at Lula. "Sorry, I got carried away." Ranger nodded, and escorted me to the Batmobile.

On the way down the dirt road, I was completely silent. I had a lot on my mind. "I don't want you hurt," Ranger said, his gaze cutting to me. That makes two of us. "Look, Steph. I'm not real comfortable with this situation. I've never opened myself up." No duh. "And I wasn't joking when I said I love you. If something happened to you…"

"Nothing will happen, Ranger," I whispered. He pulled into the driveway, and stopped.

"I want to protect you," Ranger said, reaching across the console to grab my hands. "When I heard you screaming on that phone, and the gunshots outside, my heart stopped beating. I don't know how I got to that office, but I have never been so terrified." I watched those dark eyes begin to glow, a glow I'd never seen before. "Stephanie, I want you to stay with me, where I can protect you."

My heart raced harder as he reached across the console and pulled me into his lap. The Man of Mystery, who didn't have an address, or a history, was asking me to share his home, and his future. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Every thought I had that involved Ranger, never involved something like this. This was a fantasy I had never pondered. Okay, maybe once. "For how long?" I asked, my hands shaking.

Ranger bent his head and kissed me lightly. "Forever," he whispered, brushing hair from my eyes.

Omigod, I think my heart stopped.