Story Title: Late Night Discovery
Summary: Short vignette of a Ranger middle-of-the-night visit.
Story Rating: PG
Status: Complete
Genre: Drama
Couple: S/J, S/R
Spoilers: Hard Eight
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, but only gently use for my amusement.
It took less then a minute for Ranger to open her locks and step in. He carefully shut the door behind him, alert for the signs of Stephanie's presence. He heard only her deep breathing, telling him she was sound asleep. He made his way to her bedroom, and took in the sight of her.
Her hair was wild, fanning out across her pillow. The sheets were tangled around her middle, pale muscular legs exposed by the folds inching high on her body and the outline of her breasts visible through the thin t-shirt peeking out from the top. One arm was flung over her eyes, the opposite hand crumbling a sheet of paper into a ball. She sighed in her sleep and shifted, the paper falling to the floor.
Ranger bent to pick it up, grasping it loosely while his other hand reached out and smoothed her hair away from her face. His was going to put it on the nightstand and resume his watching when the writing caught his eye. He saw two columns, one labeled "Ranger" and one "Morelli," and a list of phrases running down each. Interesting.
He looked down Morelli's list first. It read:
Best Ass in Trenton ()
Good in bed ()
Owns his own house ()
His mother (-)
Grandma Bella (-)
Continues to "work" with Terry Gilman (-)
Have known him forever (-, )
The Tasty Pastry ()
Choo-choo (-)
Writing on the stadium wall (-)
I ran him over with the Buick (?)
Lies to me (-)
He's a COP (-)
Yells at me A LOT (-)
My family likes him (-, )
Proposed when he didn't mean it (-, -)
Wants me to change (-) into a housewife (-)
Won't let me work with Ranger (-)
Gives me ultimatums (-)
Tells me what to do (-)
Minus ten
Taking note of the information provided- won't let me work with Ranger?- he smirked. Joe didn't look very good on paper. Then he looked at the list under his own name:
That body ()
Those eyes ()
That mouth ()
Nice package ()
Great in bed (, )
Real estate tycoon ()
Never yells at me ()
Never judges me ()
Trusts me (ME?) with his cars ()
Tells me what to do (-)
But lets me win sometimes ()
Scared of my family (-, )
He's Batman! (-, )
Knows all kinds of scary things that I would be better off not knowing (-, -)
Strong moral code ()
Moral code can be legally fuzzy (-)
Had never lied to me that I am aware of ()
Likes me the way I am ()
Sent me back to Morelli (-)
I know jack shit about him other than bounty hunting (-,-,-)
He makes me nervous! (-)
Minus nine
Ranger smiled. Nice to know he outranked Morelli. Looking over the list, though, he decided that he needed to increase his advantage. Plotting just how, he put the paper on her nightstand and leaned back to watch her.