It turned out that the car was a red Porsche identical to the one Ranger drove bar the colour; it had all the little gizmo's and technical stuff inside. I knew that there was probably a tracker on it, which didn't really bother me anymore. I guess it was going to happen no matter what car I had.

I had thanked Tank and the guys for the car and driven it home, Ranger had been quiet through the whole process which wasn't anything new. He had smiled at my reaction (which I am sure you can imagine). The guys were all happy with my excitement and I promised to let them know the details of the meeting with Josh.

I drove the Porsche home and parked it in the lot at my apartment, kind of reluctant to leave it out in the open, Lester had joked that there were a couple more like stashed away in case this one died. I was only half convinced it was a joke.

Once I inside my apartment I charged my phone and turned it on.

I had fourteen missed calls.

Ten were from my mother and grandmother asking what happened.

Two were from Lula, asking me to call her when and let her know I was ok, and one was from Mary Lou.

The other two to my surprise were from Joe Morelli the first one was a sigh and 'Call me' then he hung up.

The second was a little longer 'Cupcake, sorry Steph, please call me when you get this message and let me know you are ok, Eddie said you were pretty out of it. I guess you are staying with Ranger' sigh 'please call me' and he hung up.

I called my mother first, filled her in and got off the phone promising to come to dinner when I could.

I called Mary Lou and left a message for Lula.

I decided to call Joe next.

'Morelli' he almost barked into the phone guess he was in a bad mood

'Joe' I said a little tentative used to that anger being because of something I had done.

Joe sighed on the other end of the phone 'Steph, glad to hear from you, are you ok' he asked with concern

'Yeah Joe I am fine, sorry I just got back to you but my battery on my phone was flat'

Joe laughed at this

'Good to know some things don't change' the laughter died in his voice and he turned serious again 'Listen Steph, we need you to come to the station and make a statement about what happened. You aren't in any trouble, so don't worry. There is something we need to talk about though, are you at home?'

I nodded and then realised he couldn't hear me and gave my self a mental head slap 'Yeah'

'Good stay there I will bring Pino's'

And he hung up.

Ok, this was not the first time that today that I was going to ask

What the hell was going on?

I jumped in the shower and changed my clothes, by the time I was done and went back into the lounge room Joe was sitting on the couch with the pizza boxes on the coffee table.

He looked up at me when I entered the room and looked relieved he walked over and hugged me. It felt weird hugging Joe in a friendly but not friendly way. He pulled out of the hug and sat back down on the couch.

'Sorry' he said and smiled

'Don't be its fine' and I sat down next to him. To push away any uncomfortable silence we may have had we both dug into the pizza and left the talking until we were done. Joe got up and got two beers out of the fridge and handed me one.

I smiled in a thanks and started 'So what's up'

Joe looked at me 'Where did you stay last night' he asked almost too casually

I blew out a deep breath 'At the Range man building, why'

Joe turned back to his bottle of beer and played with the label

'I was looking for you, that's all'

I felt a pang of guilt but pushed it away 'I am sorry, but I pretty much went straight to sleep, I didn't think to call you and let you know I was ok'

'It's alright Steph, I just didn't want you to be alone that's all, I know how much you hate using guns, I knew you would be upset' Joe continued to play with his label.

'I wasn't alone' was all I said knowing I didn't have to justify my actions but not wanting to shut him out completely either 'Joe I am ok, just a little shaken, I will get through it'

Joe looked at me closely "you have changed cupcake, in the weeks I was away you changed, something is different about you, I don't know what but its there. Once upon a time you would have freaked out at what happened'

I couldn't help the smile that came over my face

'I did, last night, but the difference is, this time I am going to do something about it, I am going to get training, I am going to learn how to do my job rather than just winging it all the time and relying on luck'

Joe looked at me sharply 'Ranger going to train you?'

'Yeah, and a few of his men, I will be working with them for a while'

Joe turned back to his label and started to peel it off

'I was always afraid that you would get sucked into his world, that you would be drawn to the adventure and one day I would lose you to him' he turned and looked at me again 'But now I know that it wasn't him that I was going to lose you to, it was you'

I frowned in confusion 'Huh, What do you mean'

Joe smiled gently and explained

'You always were drawn to the unexpected, you came and played choo choo when you were six, you ran me over with the Buick when I stole your virginity and you took a crazy job that you had no skills in and survived things half the human population wouldn't have survived and you stayed sane doing it. You aren't just drawn to the danger, I think you need to be apart of it. For some reason you need that element in your life and I was always threatening to take it away from you. But I was scared to lose you. I always thought Ranger encouraged you and that it was his fault that you stayed in your Job. But now after spending a lot of time thinking about what I could have done different so that I didn't lose you, I realise the answer is nothing. I understand what you were saying the other day. You need at this time in your life to have your adventures, you would always regret it if you didn't. Me on the other hand have had my adventures and am ready for other things. I just want you to know that I understand'

I was in shock, Joe understood. It took a couple of minutes for me to get over the initial shock and gain the ability to speak again. But I didn't want to ruin the moment with words. It felt good, the last bit of guilt I had in regards to my relationship with Joe was lifted and I felt free. I leaned over kissed him on the cheek.

'Thankyou, you don't know how much that means'

Joe smiled 'You're welcome' he placed his hand on to mine 'I feel better saying it. So friends'

"Friends' I smiled

Joe's face turned business again and I waited for what ever was to come

'I wanted to talk to you about the something else. The woman that you shot last night was apart of a small drug ring in Trenton. I don't think there are too many of them left in town, after Ranger's men rounded most of them up last night. But I wanted to warn you that some of them might be out for revenge. Just be careful and keep your eyes open. It s probably best that you are working with Ranger and his men for the time being they can help you out at least until I can scope out what is left of them'

'Thanks for the heads up' I said

Joe got up from his seat 'I need to get going, we should do this again sometime, as friends' he smiled.

I thanked him again and he headed towards the door. As he reached for the handle he pulled his hand back and slowly turned around.

'Cupcake, just promise me one thing' he said softy

'What' I asked

'Be careful' he paused 'Try not to let Ranger's world get you killed'

I understood that Joe was scared for me "I wont, I promise to be careful' I said knowing he would take comfort in that.

Joe smiled nodded and left my apartment.

After he left I went to the bag of goodies that I brought home and settled down on the couch to eat some left over chocolate cake and a few donuts. I turned the TV on and settled on a rerun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with an excited feeling beginning form in the back of my mind. My life was about to change and for the first time in years I felt ready to meet it head on. I finished my chocolate cake and went to sleep on the couch dreaming of flying.