Disclaimer: See first chapter.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! The first thing I have to say is that something very wierd happened when I posted the last two chapters. I didn't get any reviews.

Being the review nut that I am, I got nervous and thought maybe the chapters were really, really bad... than I realized that if they had been really, really bad someone would have reviewed to tell me so. So I went to the page and found that - yes, people had reviewed the chapters but I never got the e-mails. Isn't that wierd?

Anyway, to those who reveiwed:

Angel

Emmy

Samantha

LutzButz2687

ZoeyKitty

Lovey4758 - Thanks, I hope my classes go well. (too much to waste in vain. ;)

Morrellifan2005

LanierShazar

Shortsgirl007 - I'm studying English Lit. I'm thinking of going into Publishing, but I'm not sure. I'm going to see if I can find an internship first. Thanks for asking. : )

Diablo-Angelus

Mcshnee - just so you know I am currently blowing off my Hellinistic Philosophy paper which is due tomorrow. ;)

RangerLover64

Tazya

Sue

Teela1978

Auli-lou

Lula

Sherry

mgaorphan

AngelWing78

i-forgot-my-name

Malini

and my one annoymous reviewer - THANK YOU SO MUCH. You're all so great. It's really a great morale booster to know that people like what you're writing. And I love that you love Mama-Bat.

Mama-Bat came to me in a moment of inspiration. We're going to see how she handles her boys soon, not in this chapter, but soon. After all, haven't we all seen the big, bad thug who suddenly turns sweet and soft-spoken when Mama calls...

Anywho, without further delay...

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I found Veronica's room and went to the door next to it.

Hmmmmm, how to open the door.

I hadn't thought about this part.

The door was opened suddenly, from behind.

"Go for it girl," Ralphie said from behind me, I could hear the grin in his voice and remembered that he'd interrupted us last night.

"Consider yourself glared at." I hissed at him.

He laughed as I walked in. I heard the door close behind me.

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My eyes fixed on him immediately. He was asleep, sprawled out his stomach, with no shirt on. A blanket lying at the base of his spine, the imprint of his black boxers clearly visible, as was the fact that that was all he had on.

I stood there – frozen - studying the muscles of his back.

The way it rose and fell with his breathing -and slowly I walked to a desk that was near a window and set the tray down.

Than tentatively I walked over to the bed.

I kept expecting him to sit up or say something, anythingthat showed he was aware of my presence.

He was always aware of my presence.

But here I was sitting on the side of the bed and he hadn't so much as stirred.

He was facing me, his lashes dark smudges on his cheek. I couldn't stop staring at him. It took me a minute to realize why, I'd never seen him so off guard. He was completely relaxed and I couldn't help the smile that touched my lips.

Nor could I help but touch him. My fingertips ran over his back, finding there way to the side of his face. There was a bruise on the side of his chin, I rested my hand there for a moment.

I frowned, remembering he'd been shot… should he by lying on it like that?

Probably not.

He looked very peaceful and I couldn't help it. I leaned down and kissed the corner of his mouth. I touched his silky black hair, letting it slide through my fingers...and decided that maybe it was time for me to do a little pay back.

I stood, got my sandwich – it looked like an Italian sub – and pulled up a big, comfy armchair right against the bed.

To get in, I had to climb on the bed and then slide into the it. But the thing was, once I did… I'd successfully made a little niche for myself off his bed.

He didn't move while I did all this; not when I shoved the chair against his bed, not when I climbed on his bed, or even when I brushed against him. His eyes remained closed, hisbreathing remained even.

I sat and ate.

When I was finished I watched.

And I didn't feel even a little bit guilty about it, after all he watched me sleep all the time.

I never really understood why he'd do that; break into my apartment and then watch me sleep… it sounded kinda boring.

When you were the one watching though… it was different; it was kinda of… comforting.

It made me feel… calm; and suddenly it wasn't so hard to understand why.

I could imagine him having a rough day and breaking in to watch me sleep… to unwind.

I must have fallen into a trance or something because next thing I know there's a knock on the door and my foot's asleep.

Lane poked her head in, "Hi." She said.

I smiled.

She walked in closing the door behind her, "It took me awhile but I finally registered what mom said and I thought I'd give you a heads up: he's not going to wake up tonight."

My eyes widened a little, "You gave him that much?"

She grinned, "He usually doesn't take to sedatives like a normal human being, on average it only affects him for a few hours. Today though, he was exhausted to begin with so…"

I nodded, looking back down at him.

"Is this what you've been doing all this time?" She asked.

I nodded, staying quiet.

The bed sank and I tuned to look at her, she was looking at me. "I have medication that would take your headache away."

"It's not so bad anymore; I'd rather not take anything."

She frowned, "Are you sure? There's no reason for you to walk around in pa-"

"Should he be lying on the bed like that?" I interrupted her, knowing exactly how to distract her.

She scowled instantly, "Of course not, tomorrow when he turns over… forgetting about his shoulder… he's going to tear stitches…" she glared darkly at his back.

"Probably he forgot."

"Probably he did it to piss me off."

I chuckled, that did seem like a possibility.

"Are going to spend the night in here?" She asked me.

I blinked, "I… uh…"

"If you are I'd appreciate it if you kept an eye on his temperature. It's unlikely that it'll get high, but there's always a possibility and I might get some sleep tonight if I only have to watch Marcus."

I blinked again, "Um… yeah sure… I'll stay."

She grinned at me, "Thanks. I really appreciate it."

I nodded, but my mind had wandered. It was easy to forget that he was hurt. I'd been lulled by the rhythm of his breathing, lulled into forgetting that he'd been shot. That he could easily have been killed. That they'd all entered enemy territory without backup. That this bullet, if a couple inches to the right could have killed him.

What if it had?

The thought made my blood run cold.

Hecould've been killed today.

"Don't do that."

The voice was quiet and broke me out of my reverie.

I'd forgotten I wasn't alone.

Lane was looking at me intently, her eyes glittering with seriousness, "Don't do that." She repeated, "Don't play the could'a game. Not in this family. You'll make yourself sick." She paused, "Yeah, things could've been a lot worse, they could've been hurt worse, they could've been killed, but they weren't."

"I was sitting here and I forgot."

"That's what he'd want you to do, to forget. To act like nothing happened. My brothers are all like that, maybe Ralphie's a little different, but not much. They like to act like they live normal lives, have normal jobs; like getting shot at is not only normal but expected. I suggest, though, that you don't forget anymore. I suggest that you make a note of it. Of how easy, how quickly things can slip away." She stopped again, standing, "…and act accordingly."

I said nothing to that. What could I say?

"I'll take you're plate," she said, reaching for it. I handed it to her. She went over to the far side of the room and opened a closet, pulled out a blanket, and handed it to me a moment later.

"Here you're gonna need this."

I took it.

"Goodnight Steph," she said softly.

"Lane?" I called out suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"What do you mean? Act accordingly?"

She smiled, and I felt like a four year old, it was one of those oh-you-poor-poor-stupid-child smiles.

"When you're part of this family, if you have something you want to say, you should say it."

I swallowed hard, "I'm not part of-"

"Aren't you?" She cut me off and I was uncomfortable suddenly. She was heading into territory I hadn't explored myself yet, let alone with others.

She stared at me, no smile on her face, just an inquisitive expression, "I gotta go Steph, my husbands waiting… but, you and me we're gonna talk about this soon, okay."

"I don't think there's anything to talk about." That's it Steph, stare her down… forget the trembling.

She smirked, "I think there's plenty to talk about, but not tonight. It's been a long day."

She left after that and I stared at the door for few minutes. I had the feeling that I should be careful of her. She was nice and friendly but there was an edge to her.

I sighed softly; spreading the blanket over me, she was right about one thing for sure… it had been a long day.

I snuggled into the armchair, stretching my legs out onto Ranger's bed. Wiggling my toes, so they'd wake up and shoving as many thoughts as I could out of my head. I brought the blanket closer, sighing asI closed my eyes. She was rightabout one thing - it had been a long day... as for Ranger -I'd check on him later.

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I'm not sure exactly why I woke up. I lifted my head drowsily, blinking in the darkness. When had I turned the lights out?

I shifted in the chair; taking the weight off my bad shoulder… something was wrong though… I sensed it.

I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, before peering into the bed. He was still asleep.

The sandwich was probably soggy by now. Nobody wanted to eat a soggy…

Wait… I cut my own thoughts off, as realization of what had woken me surfaced… the rhythm… it was off.

I crawled closer to his bed, and stared. His eyes were shut tight, his jaw clenched, and he was perfectly still. I crawled onto the bed, and stared harder.

His breathing had dropped down too, his chest barely rising and falling. This was not good. I crawled right up next to him and tentatively reached out to touch his arm.

He jerked away without actually jerking, and I knew suddenly that he was in the throes of a nightmare.

When I was having a nightmare I thrashed around and rolled and sometimes screamed. When Ranger was have a nightmare he tensed. It made perfect sense.

I touched him again, my hand on his the back of his neck the way he did to me so often.

"Hey, wake up," I whispered.

Nothing happened.

I got closer, bent my head right above his face, "Come on wake up." I said softly, as I ran the back of my hand along the line of his jaw.

"Rick," I whispered, "Wake up, it's dream… you're okay… you're only dreaming…"

He relaxed a little; I moved my hand to his hair – such soft hair… I should have hair like this…

"Come on Ricky, wake up…" I cooed.

Hey, I figured if he was awake and I called him that, I'd have to run; calling him that now, posed no danger whatsoever.

His lashes fluttered open and he tensed again, his eyes staring blankly ahead. Before relaxing completely, obviously he'd remembered where he was.

He shifted a little - intent on turning over; I put a restraining hand on his back.

"Lane says if you flip over like that you'll pull the stitches and that'll probably hurt."

His head shot up, "Steph?" he asked, his voice was husky and a little drowsy and tainted with surprise.

"Yep, it's me, Stephanie," I said taking my hand off him and shifting so he didn't have to crane his neck to see me.

He frowned a little, laying his head back down, "What are you doing here?"

"Um, well… Lane kinda asked me to keep in an eye on you… make sure you didn't get a fever and stuff…"

He smirked, "She thinks I'm Richie's age."

"She loves you."

His eyes landed on mine, when I said that, "yeah," he whispered.

"How do you feel?" I asked, after a moment of pregnant silence.

"Okay."

"I think you were having a nightmare."

"I was."

"Oh."

Great Steph, any more pearls of wisdom?

He started moving then, slowly…

"What are you doing?" Okay my voice hit a rather high pitch there, but I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to hurt himself.

"Turning over," he said wryly, "Sort of… if I move slowly I won't tear the stitches."

"You shouldn't have slept on your stomach." I told him.

"It's her fault she stuck that needle in my arm so fast it made my head spin. She deserves to have to stitch me up again, but if you'd rather she didn't have to, I'll be careful."

I stared at him, "She said you'd done it on purpose."

He finished the process and lay on his back, and sighed, "Of course."

I pushed my fist against my mouth to keep from telling him he was an idiot and that it would hurt to get the stitches torn.

"Tell me what you're thinking Babe, I'm too sleepy to guess."

His voice was drowsy and amused and it irritated the hell out of me.

"This isn't' funny!"

"Huh?"

"It's not something to be amused about! You got hurt and you left me and you said you'd come back and I waited and you didn't come and you left and you didn't tell me and I was worried, really worried and everyone was worried and I was worried for them and me and you and the boys and you didn't call and Veronica's so upset and sad and everything is wrong; Marcus hates me and Lane wants to talk and I miss Rex and Lula and Grandma Mazur and you got hurt."

I promptly leaned forward and buried my face in the mattress. Jeez, I'd done it again. I'd freaked out, I could feel myself start to get hysterical, I'm on the verge of hyperventilating…. again… on the bright side… at least this time his family wasn't watching.

I felt his hand on my hair, they slid down to my neck, he squeezed.

"Babe." He said. And my stomach clenched, if he'd died I'd never be able to watch that movie again.

There were a lot of things that I wouldn't've been able to do if he'd died.

And he thought it was funny, I almost get dragged out to the dogs… literally and he's amused.

I spend the entire day worried sick that I might never see him again, that I'd never be kissed like that again, or hell even looked at like that again and he comes home with a hole in his shoulder and has the bloody nerve to be amused!

"Jerk," I murmured and tried to pull away.

"Lay down with me…" he murmured his hand still on my neck, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on my skin.

Huh?

"Come on," he cooed, like you would to a little kid, "…you're tense."

No duh, Sherlock.

"Please, Stephanie…"

He called me Stephanie.

"Nu-uh," I said into the mattress, even though I knew now I would – whenever he said my name, I melted.

"I'm going to pull you over here if you don't come and than I'll tear my stitches."

I said nothing and didn't move.

"Please," he said again, his voice dropping an octave, "… so I won't have anymore nightmares."

Ooooh, that's low.

I sighed, and moved to lie beside him. He immediately slipped his good arm around me and pulled me to his side. My head on his chest, my thigh and leg pressed against his…

I felt my self start salivating… not good with his daughter next door.

"Uh…. excuse me…" I said pushing away from him a little.

"Don't do that," he said quietly, "… just go to sleep. We can talk in the morning."

"Ranger…"

"You're tired, I'm exhausted; you're stressed and I'm sedated… this is not the time to talk."

Good point.

Still…

"What if I hurt you…?"

"You're not going to hurt me."

"What if I decide to ravish you…?"

He chuckled, "Just remember my mother's upstairs and my thirteen-year-old is next door."

"Ranger-"

"Rick," he interrupted me, his voice sounding a little further gone than before, "… you called me Rick before… last night…"

"You seemed like a Rick right then…"

"And now…" he said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

I swallowed hard, oh boy…

"Your mother's upstairs." I said more to myself than to him.

He chuckled again, but it was even softer this time, and a few moments later I knew he'd fallen asleep… the rhythm was back.

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I was trapped.

I didn't know exactly how I'd managed it, or how he'd managed it for that matter. But somehow in the course of the night, Ranger had flipped over to his side – the side I was lying on, and wrapped me securely against him.

I was facing his chest and lying on my side with his bad arm draped over me. If I moved I was going to move his arm, which he had obviously done at some point in the night.

Lane was gonna be so pissed.

I sighed, I supposed if I had to be imprisoned this wasn't so bad. He was still sleeping, which was good. I didn't mind being held like this, at all, in fact… it felt kinda nice, kinda safe. No one was crawling in through the fire-escape to shoot a bullet into my head, that was for sure.

I closed my eyes and cuddled against him a little more.

Nope this wasn't so bad. A girl could get used to this... absolutely...

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Sleep came quickly, after all I was so comfortable how could it not? My next awareness was of being watched. I don't know how I knew it. I just did.

I cracked my eyes open alittle and found Ranger's dark eyes fastened on my face.

He smirked, before swinging away from me – taking his arm with him.

Suddenly I was free; the exhilaration was followed by a weird sense of regret that was followed by aggravation when I heard him hiss in pain.

"Your shoulder!"

He groaned, "It's fine… more than I can say for my sister when I get my hands on her." His voice was still kinda croaky and I figured that sedative must've been pretty strong.

I said nothing, just sat there, realizing I was still in my clothes from yesterday and probably my hair was a mess and I don't know about him but I absolutely remembered the idiot I'd made of myself last night. I'd ranted again, when the last thing he'd needed had been to hear me rant.

"Thanks for staying with me Babe," he said softly and I realized suddenly that he'd been watching me.

"Uh… yeah… listen… I think… I'm gonna go to my room…" I slid off the bed, and stood there for a second, not knowing what to say. He was shot and supposedly exhausted and he'd been sedated and he had no shirt on and looked yummy enough to eat.

My mouth was watering and my knees were getting weak and all he was doing was looking at me!

"So, bye." And with that eloquence that is the essence of me I opened the door and rushed out.

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