Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing I say.!

When I got home my answering machine was blinking, I pressed the play button and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.

"Hey Cupcake it's me, I really need to talk to you, call me when you get in."

Not likely

"Stephanie it's your mom, what's this I hear about you beating up a wounded man. Why can't you have a normal life, I hear there's a job opening down at-"

The machine cut her off. Thankfully she hadn't caught wind of my very public breakup with Joe.

"Hey Steph, It's Mary-Lou. I heard about Joe. Call me when you get in and we can go vandalize his house."

I smiled

"Babe"

My smile instantly faded.

I deleted the messages finished off my beer.

I walked over to Rex's tank and dropped in another couple grapes. Sadly Rex is probably the closest I'll ever get to actual offspring, especially since Joe and I are no longer.

Four beers, one tequila shot, and two donuts later I was stumbling off to my bedroom in a drunken haze when I heard the locks on my door tumbling. I grabbed the nearest object that I could use for a weapon. It was an empty beer bottle. I started to laugh which caused me to drop the beer bottle.

"Oops." I dropped to my knees and began crawling after the bottle. It landed against a pair of big black boots. Uh-oh. My gaze slowly traveled upward, until they landed on a pair of dark brown eyes.

"Babe."

Shit.

"Ranger"

"What are you doing?"

"Yoga" I offered.

"Try again"

"None of your business." I stumbled to my feet trying my best to look indignant.

"Why do you care? I tink… I think you made yourself perfectly clear when you told me to go back to Morelli. Great idea by the way."

Ranger stared at me silently. Fine buddy give me the silent treatment I'm just getting started anyways, I thought mentally rolling up my sleeves.

"What is wrong with you?" I took a step forward. Big mistake, I pitched forward, and Ranger's hand shot out to steady me.

"Don't touch me." I shouted shrugging his hand off me.

"Babe…"

"Don't babe me. Leave me alone. You obviously don't want me. So just leave me alone. What did you think maybe you could supply a pity screw for me. Well, Ranger screw you. Maybe you and Joe should get together so you can compare notes."

He took a step forward at the mention of Joe's name."

"Don't compare me to him. I would never hurt you"

"Yeah right Ranger. Well surprise, you already did a pretty good job of hurting me before. What like screwing me, and then telling me to go back to Joe wasn't painful. Maybe you should look up the definition of hurt, because that's exactly what you did."

"Now go away." I emphasized each word with a hit to his chest.

Finally his arm snaked around and pulled my arms tightly to his chest so I couldn't hit him any more. My lower lip quivered, the dam broke, and I began to cry.

"Com'on Babe you just need some sleep." His arms slid under my knees and before I could protest, we were already on the way to the bedroom. He gently laid me down in the center of my bed and I had a sudden sense of De je vu.

"What's wrong … with me?"

I swear I heard him say

"Your perfect Babe, Joe's just to stupid to see that."

I was so tired I didn't even hear him leave.

I woke up with an alcohol-induced headache and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I took a look around, Ranger was gone. Thank God, before I was avoiding him, now I was hiding from him. From what I could remember we had exchanged a few words last night. Okay so maybe I was the only one was exchanging words. I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. Then I dragged myself out of the shower, and to my closet. I threw on a pair of jeans and a baby-tee. Then took off to Macdonald for 'The Cure'.

One large Cola, and Large French fries later I was feeling like I actually might make it through the day. That was until I saw Ranger's black porche parked outside the office. I figured maybe I should wait a while until he calmed down. Like maybe forever.

The shades in the window parted, and I could feel those warm brown eye's focusing on me. Beckoning me into the office with his jedi mind tricks. I quickly diverted my gaze toward the dead bushes outside the bail bounds office. Never knew they could be so interesting. I looked back at the window and those warm brown eyes were still staring at me. I narrowed my eyes, fine he wanted to play hard-ball I could wait him out. Yeah buddy, I chuckled to myself, you have no idea who your messing with.

Two minutes later I strolled into the Bond office with my head held high muttering obscenities under my breath. All talking ceased as soon as I walked in. Connie, Lula, and Ranger all stared back at me. Thankfully before anyone could say anything my phone rang.

"Ello."

"Cupcake." Joe.

"Hello Joseph." I said perkily. "Hang on for a second kay." I turned and calmly walked out the door, threw the phone on the ground, took out my gun, and proceeded to unload my clip into it.

When I walked back into the office Lula, and Connie were looking at me with their mouths wide open. Ranger was smiling.

"What?" I asked innocently the smoking gun still dangling from my hand.

Connie shrugged and passed me a file. "Here's a quick one."

The phone rang and I had a sneaking suspicion of who it was. Connie cleared her throat and answered. I tucked the gun into the back of my jeans and pretended to glace over the file.

After a few moments Connie passed the phone to me.

"Stephanie, listen to me. I'm a cop. I could make your life miserable. I don't want to do it. Just come over so we can talk."

"Are you threatening me. You know Joe you really are a piece of work, first I catch you screwing another woman, then you try to strong arm me into getting back together with you.'

"No Stephanie I'm just trying to get you to listen."

"By threatening me you sick son of a-" The rest of my conversation was cut short when someone snatched the phone out of my hand.

"Listen up Morelli, because I'm only going to say this once. Do not attempt to call Stephanie. Do not try leave her notes. And if you value your life, you will stay away far from her until she contacts you herself. Understood."

Sheesh. What a way to get the Trenton PD on your side. Ranger paused for a moment then he replied.

"It became my problem the moment you made her cry." He calmly hung up the phone then turned around to face me.

"I need to talk to you outside." He gently guided me out the door, and into the alley behind the office with his palm on the small of my back.

I could see the headlines already. "Missing Woman Found Floating in Delaware River."

I shivered and shook the foolish thought from my head. Ranger would never hurt me. Probably…

Ranger did the ESP thing again and tilted my head up with his hand. "Babe I would never hurt you."

Always good to know.

"Look, I'm sorry that I hurt you. I was trying to protect you."

I snorted. "You didn't do a good job."

"Hey even super hero's make mistakes every once in a while. So are we good?" He leaned against me and pushed my back to the wall.

I pushed him off. "As good as we're going to be."

Ranger moved closer to me and whispered into my ear. "Don't push me away."

Then he turned and walked off, leaving me alone in the alley. I put my head in my hands and sighed.

"Could this day get any worse?"

By the time I pulled into my parking lot it was already dark. I stalked up the stairs since the elevator was out of service, trying not to think too much about this past week. When I hit my hall, the smell of Lasagna drifted down the hallway making my mouth water. I groaned remembering how empty my cabinets had been for the past couple day's, nope no lasagna for me. Beer and bread maybe, but no lasagna. I paused outside my door for a few moments thinking maybe I had imagined the noises coming from my apartment. Then I heard it again, nope not my imagination. I hesitated briefly thinking maybe I should call the cops, but then an image of Carl and Big Dog presiding over a new bet pool in my honor plowed through my mind and I decided to check it out for myself. I pulled out my gun, and opened the door to my apartment.

"Hey Cupcake what took you so long."

And here's the answer to my question about the day getting any worse.

I slammed the door, and tossed my gun onto the table. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Trying to talk to you."

"So what part of go away, don't ever talk to me again did you not understand."

"Well you never said that specifically."

"Well I'm saying it now so go." I pointed a stiff arm at the door.

Joe walked up to me and pulled my arm down.

"Com'on Cupcake, don't be this way."

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that." Joe flinched and I knew he was remembering the 'incident' in the parking lot of the hotel.

"I'm not leaving until you listen to me."

"Okay fine Joe what do you have to say for yourself?" I tapped my foot impatiently waiting for his reply. "Well."

"Look it was a mistake okay. I messed up, she didn't mean anything." He sighed a pushed a hand through his hair. For some reason I began to feel sorry for him, but then an image of him with Terri filled my brain and all pity was gone.

"No Joe, it won't work, please leave."

Joe's face turned red, and I knew he was gearing up for a fight.

"Why are you upset Cupcake, now you and Rambo can hook up and not feel guilty about it."

My head snapped back as if I'd been slapped. "How dare you Joe, Ranger has nothing to do with this." I started looking around where had I put those extra bullets at.

"No Ranger has everything to do with this." He was pacing back in forth now.

"Fine Joe whatever I'm not going to have this conversation with you, you stay, I'll leave." I tried to stalk past him, but he grabbed my arm and threw me onto the couch.

"No you're going to stay." He loomed over me like a mountain.

I jumped to my feet. "You have no right to touch me, you don't even have the right to be here so leave." All of a sudden my bat signal went on high alert. Ranger was close by.

"Joe I suggest you get out of here before Ranger pounds you into the ground."

"What you're going to sic your psychotic boyfriend on me now. This isn't over by a long shot Cupcake." The door slammed on his way out. At least he had enough sense to evacuate before Ranger showed up and made target practice out of him. A few moments later my door opened and Ranger appeared.

"I didn't know you could cook babe." He said referring to the lasagna.

Without a word I stood up and stomped to the kitchen put on potholders and pulled the lasagna out of the oven. I walked to the window, passing Ranger who looked on in curiosity. I opened the window and tossed the lasagna out the window, pan and all. It crashed to the ground with a bang. Then I heard a muffled shout.

"Hey what the-." I closed the window quickly and pulled the blinds closed.

I turned back to Ranger.

"Morelli?" He asked simply, but I could tell he wanted to hunt Morelli down like a rabid dog.

"In the flesh. I think his parting words were 'this isn't over' little clichéd if you ask me."

"Want me to handle it."

I had an image of Morelli being run over by a black CR-V and I smiled, all of a sudden Grandma Belle came into the vision, cursing me with the evil eye. Not so funny anymore.

"Umm- no I can handle it."

"Famous last words."

I smiled in spite of the image of Grandma Belle cursing me for all eternity.

"Any reason in particular you stopped by."

"Maybe"

"Oh let me guess, another job."

"No"

"Okay I give."

"Babe you give in to easily."

I had a feeling he was talking about other things as well. I felt the blush spread across my face.

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

"I just got an update on our friend Michael Rims."

A/N: Hee hee heh I know you guyz love me, that's why I feel secure enough to leave off at a cliffhanger. I know I'll still have my faithful fans, well maybe… Hummm?

Reese