(1 year in the past)

He should have called by now. He said he'd call. He hasn't called yet. Why hasn't he called. Maybe I'll call him. No, don't call him. He would have called if he wasn't busy, and he hasn't called so he must be busy.

Or maybe he forgot. He could have just forgotten. He's human, humans forget to call their girlfriends after they go out on a scary drug bust with homicidal people with guns and bullets and stuff.

I was officially freaking out. Joe should have called by now. Joe would have called by now.

This internal battle with myself is not making things much easier. Joe would be alright. He'd be fine enough for me to kick his ass when I finally saw him.

This is what happens when you have a cop boyfriend. They have to go on drug busts, with bad guys and guns. That's why he has a partner, anyway. To protect him against the bad guys and their guns. So why am I worried?

"I'm worried because I care for him. He might be my husband one day." I said aloud.

So I dialed his cell number. No answer. Okay, not good. But I would have gotten a call from the hospital if something bad happened, so he's fine. He's probably still busy and cant answer his phone.

I sat in the silence for a moment, then realized it was silent. Rex was still at Joe's house. And I currently wasn't. And the quiet was nerve racking. I slipped into a pair of shoes and hustled to my car. I turned on the radio softly so that there wasn't any quiet.

Odd things started once I pulled onto Joe's street. I couldn't place the cause to the feelings, but the feelings that screamed "TURN BACK NOW!" were around.

Joe's truck was parked on the sidewalk in front of his house. I sighed. Good sign. I parked and jogged up the front walk. I slid my key into the lock, excited to see him. I practically threw the door off it's hinges when I opened it. Then I noticed the bra. Actually, there was a trail of clothing, but the bra stood out. Joe didn't wear a bra, and I didn't own that bra. Looking at the clothing pile, I realized that I didn't own any of these clothes. A shirt and pants that belonged to Morelli, an additional pair that would have fit a woman much smaller than me, with much bigger boobs.

I fished a phone out of the back pocket of Joe's pants. I wanted to know the identity of the woman screwing my boyfriend before I met her face to face. And I had already checked the woman's pants.

One missed call. The phone told me. I accessed the recent calls menu. One missed from Stephanie. One to the station. Three from one Teri Gillman. One to Teri.

Rumors had been floating around that Joe was having an affair with Teri. Whenever I brought it up however, he countered it with a buyable excuse. That I believed, every single time. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I resisted the urge to smash my head into the wall.

Now what do I do? I asked myself, standing in the middle of his living room. I came to get Rex, nothing else. Okay, so I did want to see Joe, but those thoughts had ended. Holler for him. Curse him out in front of his lover. That's irrational, I told self. I made a big scene with Dickie, my ex-husband, for this exact thing. No need for round two. Take Rex and leave him a note. That made sense. I searched for a pencil and a piece of paper. I managed to dig up an old take-out bag and a magic marker.

"Dear Joe," I began. "I didn't want to ruin your evening, but I will be needing my things back. I will come back tomorrow and get my stuff then leave the key." I swallowed back tears.

"Please feel free to keep Bob as long as you like. I'll understand if you want to keep him, or if you want me to take him. Lastly, I'm pretty sure you're uninvited to dinner tomorrow night." A tear slid down my cheek as I finished punctuating the last sentence. Do what has to be done. This was harder than it looked.

"Sincerely, Stephanie." I ended, and sighed. I picked up Rex's cage and placed the note in it's place. Joe would see it: Rex was placed on the counter-bar thing right beside the coffee maker so that we wouldn't forget to feed him.

I had a sudden rush of emotion as I passed the strewn clothing in the hall. I pulled Rex's cage close to me to find comfort. I eased out of my parking place and headed to the local 7-Eleven. Nobody made a better companion than Ben and Jerry. I picked three flavors because I couldn't choose. I returned home at a quarter to twelve. I sat up for two hours working on my ice cream. I ate till I could eat no more. I slipped into a battered flannel button up and a ratted pair of sweatpants. I went to check the door one last time, and ran face to face with Ranger, who was once again letting himself into my apartment.

This was usual, in an unusual sort of way. Ranger made it a hobby to break in at odd hours of the night. I think he did it more often than I knew of, just watching me sleep. Or just making sure I slept another night without bad guys stabbing me in my sleep. They also made it a hobby to break in. Ranger and I have been friends for the better of three years now, and I still hardly know nothing about him. Just that he's a successful businessman, of sorts, he's ex-military, and has a daughter, 4 sisters and a brother.

"Hey." I said.

He was silent. He took in the orphan Annie look I was wearing, then to the bowl of mostly gone, melted ice cream. "Rough night?"

"You could say that." I responded.

Ranger made is way to the couch and looked at me expectantly. I waddled over to the couch too. "Care to talk about it?" Ranger asked.

I gave him a twisted look from where I sat. Ranger was actually prodding. Not into my love life, for once, but just into my personal life. That sort of rolled over into my love life in a non-direct way. "Not really, but by morning it will have made the paper."

I took a breath and let it out before I continued. "Joe's doing the nasty with Teri Gillman. He might not be doing it now, but two hours ago when he was supposed to be on a big drug bust, he was at home boinking Teri. I went to get Rex and…" I stopped short of the rest.

Ranger slid his arm across my back to my opposite shoulder. "Babe." He gave a squeeze.

Suddenly, I felt lonely. A feeling of guilt overcame me, and thoughts of being alone for the rest of my life clouded my every thought. I glanced at Ranger, who was watching me. I nuzzled into his chest as I felt the first of many tears slide down my cheek. He reached up with his hand and swiped a few, but more took it's place. He kissed the top of my head.

We said nothing for a few long minutes. Then, I couldn't hold back my question. "What are you doing here?" I asked him innocently.

"I knew something happened with Morelli. I tracked your car, and his still has the tracker from when you drove it. It was parked for a long time, and yours wasn't. Figured something was up."

"And you came to my rescue?"

"Just like Batman." He retorted with a smile.

I couldn't resist. It was a line I had cooked up a long time ago, from when Ranger harassed a little old lady to find where I was in the middle of the night after he'd been gone all day to save me. I said it to myself over and over again, in reference to the many times he had saved my ass, and to the future when he would save my ass. "You're my Batman."

I spared a look at him, and he leaned over for a kiss. The kiss was quick and sweet. Then his lips broke into a smile. "I'm your Batman." He replied.

Too bad Batman doesn't have superpowers. I thought, but must have said out loud because he responded with, "Wouldn't be too sure about that."

This one's much longer. Not quite as long as I'd planned, and I kind of cut the ending short (and cheesy). Oh well, that happens sometimes. I promise more to come, but I have to go to bed or I won't wake up in the morning. I'm sorry I didn't quite get down to the plot just yet. but I really gotta go!