Chapter 32: Welcome to the Batcave

One minute I'm crying my eyes out, the next I'm fast asleep and in a third I'm being kidnapped! I remember waking up, thinking that something was wrong when I saw a strange man in my bedroom. When he saw that I was coming awake he was on me in a minute and before I knew it, my hands were tied behind my back and something was placed over my eyes. I had only seen his face for a split second, but I didn't know who it was. Since I had just been away for months, I was trying to dig deep as to why I was being kidnapped. At least I knew for sure that Ranger wouldn't come to my rescue this time. And he wouldn't be the one kidnapping me, either. I felt really alone. I felt tears forming themselves again and to make sure I wouldn't start crying again, I called out to my kidnapper.

"Who are you and what do you want?" No answer.

"Hey, at least you could tell me who you are!" No answer came. I could hear him moving around my bedroom.

"What are you doing? Are you searching my apartment? Well, good luck." Still nothing.

"Why are you kidnapping me anyway? I haven't caught an FTA in months, so if you have a grudge or something, why don't you wait until Monday. I'm going back to work then, and since you have been waiting for so long, you could wait a few more days, right?" I thought I heard a snicker at that, but nothing else.

"Come on, say something. Maybe I can help you find whatever it is that you're trying to find." I heard a drawer open and then it was quiet for a moment. He had found my underwear.

"Hey, get your grubby hands out of my underwear." Some more movement and the drawer was closed again.

"Thanks. Jeez."

I was surprised that I wasn't more afraid, but I suppose that all the emotions from this afternoon had left me feeling numb. I didn't really care that much at this moment about what would happen. The man I loved had just told me that he didn't want a relationship with me, so everything felt minor in comparison to that. Suddenly I felt the bed tip and he grabbed my arm, pulling me off the bed. I had fallen asleep with my clothes still on, so at least he had saved me some embarrassment. He sat me on the side of the bed and I felt him putting shoes on my feet. Finally some of my survival instinct kicked in. If he was putting my shoes on, that meant that his face and other body parts were in reach of my feet. I waited until I had one shoe on and he was just fumbling with the second. Then I swung my foot with shoe forward as hard as I could. I was rewarded with a shout of pain. I heard him fall to the floor and kicked out again, this time hearing a grunt. Two kicks, two hits! I started to scoot to the other side of the bed when I heard the door to my bedroom open. Shit, there's more than one. I was put back in the middle of the bed again by strong arms and a solid squeeze from the hands on my upper arms told me to stay put. I heard rustling of clothing as number 1 was probably trying to get up again. He was still grunting and taking shallow breaths, so I think I hit home. The bed tipped again when somebody sat down on it, and my left food was grabbed and pulled forward. My leg was now stretched, so I couldn't kick really hard now. The shoe was put on, and I was pulled off the bed and walked to my living room. A jacket was draped over my shoulders, covering my hands behind my back.

"Are you going to take me somewhere?" Nothing, only thing I could hear were people walking around the apartment.

"Do you have any idea how rude this is?"

"God, men! What is it with you guys? Can't ask a woman if they want to go somewhere? You just do the whole caveman routine, why don't you?"

"Did I hurt you back there? I did, didn't I? Well, you deserved it!" Okay, so maybe it isn't very smart to bait your kidnappers, but this whole quiet routine was getting on my nerves. We were now moving towards the door. Suddenly I felt somebody close to me and a voice in my ear said in a dangerous tone:

"You scream or cause trouble, I'll stun you." I felt a stun gun being pressed against my arm under the jacket and I jumped a little. I swallowed and nodded.

"Good girl. Now walk nice and slow." We were walking down the stairs and I was thinking hard about this situation. I felt that I had to do something to try to escape, it is never good to let yourself be transported to god knows where by god knows who. So when we were walking on the parking lot I was stalling a little bit and was about to make a break for it, when the same voice in my ear said:

"Don't even think about it." Gulp. I was put in the backseat of a car and I heard the locks click shut. Shit, shit, shit. This had to be the worst day of my life.

Meanwhile, outside the car…

"Are you okay?" Tank couldn't help but grin. This was so typical for Stephanie. She had attacked at the moment that Alex hadn't expected it and had been distracted.

"Yeah, I'm good." But the grimace on his face and the way he was still holding on to his left shoulder told Tank otherwise.

"Where did she kick you?"

"Shoulder and back."

"Get it checked out when we get back." Alex nodded.

"She must be something special, you know, for the boss to do all this."

"Yeah, she is one in a million. You hurt her, you better hide." Alex nodded again, understanding the implication.

"Good, let's go," Tank said, glad that his message had been understood. When Stephanie had kicked Alex, he had been afraid for a moment that Alex' response would have been to hit back, because they were trained to do so. Luckily Alex had enough self control and understanding of the situation that he had walked away for a moment to calm down. Still, Tank thought it was wise to let him know how important it was that Stephanie was unharmed, for his own health.

They got into the car and immediately Steph started talking again.

"So, where are you guys taking me? Are we going somewhere interesting?"

"This just isn't done, kidnapping me and blindfolding me. Who do you think you are?"

"Can't you take off this blindfold? I mean, I've got my hands tied behind my back, what can I do? I'll be real good, I promise." So good that I'll memorize your faces and describe them in detail to the police, Steph thought, but she thought it was better to keep that part to herself. And she would really like to see where they were going. They had been driving for over 10 minutes now and she had no idea where they were. She continued asking questions, trying to coax a reaction from her kidnappers, but they stayed eerily silent. She didn't get a particularly threatening vibe from them, but it was clear that they were in charge and had the situation completely under control. She tried every which way she knew to get them to either untie her hands or take off the blindfold or even just to get them to speak to her. Her last resort was to offer them sex, not that she intended to follow up on that one, but still.

"How about this? Why don't you guys pull over and we can get to know each other a little better, you know," she said in a suggestive voice.

"A little bit more… intimate," she added in a sensual whisper. She leaned forward until she felt the back of the seat in front of her, and then moved a bit to the side to where she expected the ear of one of her kidnappers would be.

"Mmmm, you smell nice," she softly said in his ear. He shifted and the temperature in the car seemed to rise a few degrees.

"I bet you have a really big…" At that moment the kidnapper in front seemed to develop an immediate throat infection, because he started coughing loudly.

"Be quiet," was the somewhat strangulated sounding command.

"Suit yourself, but you don't know what you are missing out on. I mean…"

"QUIET!" She smiled. At least she had managed to make her kidnappers feel uneasy. Not long after that they stopped for a moment, and then slowly drove on. She suspected they were on a driveway because of the sound of gravel under the wheels and their sudden slow speed. She heard one of the kidnappers get out and strained her ears to see if she could hear anything. She heard nothing except for breathing from the other kidnapper and herself. Then the other kidnapper got out and then her door was opened.

"Are you finally going to tell where we are?" she asked. The door was closed behind her and then she suddenly felt a familiar feeling. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she felt herself shiver. She turned her head a little and knew that HE was there, watching her. Her first thought was 'no, please tell me this is not happening'. She knew that tingle, that feeling. She knew that there was only one man who could do that to her. The one man that didn't want her, the one man that she loved. The one person she ABSOLUTELY didn't want to see for the next 6 months or so. She took a few steps back to get some sort of distance between them, but was soon grabbed again by a strong hand. No, no, NO! She was NOT doing this, she was NOT. She started to struggle in earnest for the first time this night. She could feel that whoever it was that was holding her made an effort not to hurt her, but she knew there was no way she could escape him. She screamed in frustration, anger and pain.

"No, NO WAY! Fuck you, Ranger! How DARE you! Let me go! You bastard!"

She struggled some more until she felt completely empty inside.

TANK POV

When Steph suddenly stopped and turned her head in Ranger's direction, I was almost fascinated. She knew he was there! And I suddenly remembered yesterday, when she had returned. Ranger had known it too before he had seen her. Wow, they had such a strong connection between them that they could actually feel each others presence. But Steph started to run away, and when Alex grabbed her, she started to resist. I could see that Alex did his very best to restrain her without hurting her. I looked at Ranger and saw a very pained look in his eyes. Suddenly he turned and walked into the house. Guess it was too painful for him to watch. Steph struggled on for a little while and then slowly stopped, her whole body looking drained. We really needed to get this misunderstanding cleared up soon or it'll kill them both. I motioned to Alex to walk Stephanie into the house and to continue with the original plan. When they walked past me, I could hear Steph crying and saw a tear running over her cheek from underneath the blindfold. I felt a little tug in my heart. We all liked this woman, she was something else entirely. And I have never seen Ricardo love a woman like he loves her. He regularly lost his cool when it came to her. But they made a stunning couple, they were a match made in heaven, and to see both of them go through so much pain, even though it was about to end, was painful to watch even for me.

When we came into the living room, I looked around. Ranger had outdone himself with this one. Large candles were burning all around the room and the fire was lit. The 3 bouquets of roses that we had bought were standing in 3 vases; on the coffee table, on the floor and on the dining table. It looked homey and romantic, at least to me. Alex put Stephanie in the chair standing in front of the fireplace and looked at me for further instructions. I signaled him to go outside and wait for me there. I turned to see Ranger leaning against the dinner table, looking at Stephanie with dilated eyes. Oh, he loved her all right. The love for her and the pain to see her in this shape were both clearly visible on his face. His left hand was gripping the table behind him, knuckles white. I raised my eyebrows at him, silently asking if it was okay for me to leave. He only returned a blank stare. Guess he lost his brain again. I decided to take matters in my own hands, somebody needed to help these people, and fast. I walked over to Steph and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little but didn't respond otherwise. Another tear dripped of her chin. I bent forward until my face was next to hers.

"Steph?" She pulled her head up at the sound.

"Tank?"

"Yeah."

"Listen to me, please?" I asked her softly.

"I don't want to hear it, Tank." She sounded tired.

"Yes, you do. Believe me," I added with some emphasis.

"Fine, whatever."

"I have a tape that I want you to listen to. Promise me you'll listen carefully. If you still want to leave after you've heard the tape, I'll take you home." While I said this I put up a hand to stop Ranger, because I knew he would want to respond to my 'addition' to the plan. I had realized that it wasn't fair and probably unwise to leave them alone right now. They were both supercharged with emotions and Steph had no idea where she was. It was only fair that I offered her a way out if she really wanted to.

I just prayed that she didn't want to use it, because Ranger would kill me.

After he tortured me for say… 5 decades?

"Promise me, Steph" I gently urged her.

"Fine, I promise." She shrugged.

I grabbed the little mp3 player of the table and pressed play. Voices filled the room.

"Ram here. We've got a situation. Can you come down?"

"I can't."

"But Tank asked me to…"
"Not now. Later." Dial tone.

As soon as Steph heard the first words of Ranger, she tensed up. When she heard his second answer, she went completely rigid.

"Oh god," she gasped. I played the recording one more time, to make sure she understood what she had just heard and then put the little device back on the table and walked around her chair and started to free her hands while softly speaking to her, hoping to answer any questions that might go through her mind right now and take away any doubt she might experience.

"You didn't hear his phone because it didn't ring, it vibrated." She gave a small gasp in understanding.

"You didn't see the phone because you had your eyes closed." She gave a small nod, remembering it.

"He didn't come after you at first because he didn't understand what had happened." Another nod.

"He didn't come after you later because he couldn't think anymore." Another tear dripped of her chin, and she gave a small nod.

"We came up with this plan because we didn't think you would listen otherwise." A sad smile crossed her face and then she gave another small nod.

"You've never heard his answer to your question." She gasped again, realizing now the full impact of this conversation.

"Oh my god, I didn't." She sat up straight now, her mind going into overdrive to process all this information and the implications.

"Do you want to stay and hear his answer, Steph?" I asked softly. I could see that Ranger had almost stopped breathing. She tensed up and for a horrifying moment I thought she was going to say 'no'. But then she nodded.

"Yes," she whispered, hope and fear clearly audible. Her hands, now free, were grabbing the side of the chair and her knuckles turned white. I placed my hands on her shoulders to offer her some form support.

The tension in the room was unbelievable. Steph sat in her chair, slightly bend forward, her blindfold still on, her hands holding the chair in a death grip. Ranger was standing at the table, knuckles white and eyes closed with relief. I looked at him and he opened his eyes again. Then he looked at Stephanie with the most loving look I've ever seen on anybody's face.

"Yes," he said softly. Steph shot up in her chair, her head turning to the sound of his voice to her side.

"My answer is and always has been 'yes', Babe. I would love nothing more than to share my life with you." Stephanie clapped both her hands over her mouth and the sound that came out was something between a sob and a laugh. I slowly untied the blindfold and whispered in her ear.

"Welcome to the Batcave, Stephanie."