Recap: Stephanie and Ranger survive dinner, partly by Ranger planning ahead with Tank to call to give them an escape.

Stephanie

I woke to the sound of Ranger in the shower. My first instinct was to go join him, before remembering that with no possibility of sex, that would likely just lead to a lot of frustration. So I bundled up into a soft terry-cloth robe and started to work the knots out of my hair before I jumped in the shower.

A few minutes later Ranger stepped out, the scent of Bvlgari wafting behind him. Steam rose from his sculpted shoulder muscles and chest, while small droplets flowed down tantalizingly to the towel wrapped around his waist. I wanted to reach out and touch each drop, to follow its path down into his…

"Earth to Babe."

I jumped a little and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, what? My mind was wandering."

His grin told me he knew exactly where my mind had been. "Agent Mankiller will get here around 11:30 to let us know what they got from interrogating those terrorists you helped to catch. I was thinking we could grab some pizzas and have a lunch meeting."

"Sounds good. How about I pick up Pino's?"

"That would be great, Babe." He moved over to me and looked down, his eyes scanning my face, and a hand in my hair. Then he bent down and kissed me, so gently it wouldn't have broken a soap bubble. I moaned at the touch, and nuzzled my mouth into the crook of his neck, nipping at the collar bone. "Babe…" he whispered, as I felt him harden underneath me.

I shouldn't be doing this, I knew that, but I wanted him so badly. So I sucked lightly on his skin, causing him to take in a sharp gasp. Then his lips were on my neck, then my collarbone, and he pulled the delicate flesh between his teeth, nibbling slightly. If felt so good I clutched him tighter to me, desperate to feel him against me. He sucked harder as I moaned in pleasure and his hand encircled my wrist.

And then he pulled away, leaving me whimpering a protest. "Sorry Babe, your pulse was raising too much, had to...shit."

He stepped away from me and inspected my neck. "Fuck, Babe, I'm sorry. I left a hickey."

I rushed into the bathroom and wiped away the fog on the mirror. Sure enough, there was a small hickey forming on my skin. Annoying, but it couldn't be helped. "I'm going to hop in the shower. I'll come down to go get the pizza at 11. Have a good day!" Then like a coward I jumped into the water, turned it as low as I could stand it, and tried to cool my hormones before I pulled him back to bed, doctor's instructions be damned.

I spent the morning being bored, just like I was the day before. I dozed, inspected my split ends, and puttered. I got dressed in a suit for the meeting, and arrived in Ranger's office precisely at 11. He smiled at me as I walked in the door, not his half-smirk that he generally used, but his 200 watt smile that lit up the room. He walked over to me, planting a kiss on my lips.

"Now, now, what was that you were saying about not getting my heart-rate up?"

"Couldn't be helped, Babe." He said, pulling the collar of my suit jacket aside to inspect the morning's damage. "It's gotten pretty dark, but the jacket should keep it hidden. I called in the order 15 minutes ago. 3 pizzas, a meatball sub, and 8 orders of coffee. It should be ready by the time you get there. We have plates here."

"You don't have coffee here? With all the overnight shifts?"

"The machine on that floor is on the fritz, and it seemed easier than hauling out an old machine." He handed me a Rangeman credit card. I nodded and gave Ranger a quick peck on the cheek, then headed down to my car in the garage.

10 minutes later I was pulling into Pino's parking lot. I got out and was almost through the door when I saw Joe's car in the parking lot. Shit. I stood in the chilly weather and considered leaving. But it was pretty crowded in there, maybe we wouldn't run into each other. And Ranger had already made the order. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Pino's during the lunch rush is a sight to behold. Cops and taxi drivers everywhere, booths crammed with bodies, waiters shouting orders and rushing to refill drinks. I made my way to the counter and asked for the Rangeman order. The guy scrambles to pull everything together, giving me a stack of boxes and a paper bag that presumable had my meatball sub. "That will be $45.27, cash or charge?"

I gave him the card and looked at my order. "What about the coffee?"

"Shit" the guy said, and rushed over to the coffee pot to fill the cups. I saw Joe sitting in a booth out of the corner of my eye. He was trying not to look at me, but his eyes kept drifting over in my direction. I was glad he was keeping his respectful distance, Trenton was too small a city for us to not run into each other on occasion.

Two paper drink holders filled with coffee were hastily placed onto my stack of boxes, and I handed over the card. I was running late with the delay, and after I signed the slip I grabbed the stack and turned, only to bang into a person standing too close behind me.

Carl Costanza let out a yell as I hit him with the pizza boxes, but not as hard as I did as one of the coffee cups burst open and spilled all over me, covering me with scalding coffee fresh from the pot. I gasped as the heat hit me, and I barely got the pizza, sub, and other coffees back onto the counter so I wouldn't drop them. I tore off my jacket to get the coffee off my skin, wincing from the pain. Carl grabbed some napkins and ice water from a nearby table and made a cold compress. The wet napkins felt soothing against the burns, and after a moment I was able to look around. The entire restaurant was staring at us, many pulling out their phones. Joe was half standing, looking like his protective instincts were at war with my request to stay away. I nodded at him, letting him know that he could come over.

Joe looked relieved as he walked over to me, the room still silent aside from the subtle clicking of camera phones. He lifted a napkin slightly to inspect the damage, and Carl realized how bruised my skin was underneath. "Plum, what the hell happened to your arm?"

"I had a rough takedown." I said. It was true, and I didn't want to bring up getting roughed up by Nazis over the weekend. The bruises were still ugly, even though they didn't really hurt anymore, especially compared to the burns on my arm.

Even worse, Joe spotted the hickey on my collarbone. He hissed in a breath when he saw it, physical proof that I wasn't just working with Ranger, but was sleeping with him as well. I stood still, hoping he wouldn't make a scene. Instead he shrugged of his jacket and put it over my shoulders, covering the bruises and hickey, hiding them from the prying eyes all around us.

"Let me help you get those to your car?" he said, a question in his tone. I wavered a moment, then nodded. I wanted to get out of there, and the wet napkins on my skin and sore arm meant he was the quickest way to do it. Joe grabbed the stack and worked his way out the door, me on his heels. Through the glass door, I could see phones fly to ears, and I knew I would be the talk of the 'Burg yet again. All from a simple errand to pick up lunch.

I unlocked the door to my car and Joe carefully placed the pizza on the passenger seat. Then he stood there, looking surprisingly awkward, hands in his jeans pockets and looking everywhere but at me. I pulled his jacket off my shoulders and handed it back to him, then slipped into the driver's side door and started the engine. I kept an eye on him as I pulled out of the parking lot, watching him stand there sadly in the chill wind while I drove away.

I got back to Rangeman right on time, and Lester was waiting in the garage to help me bring everything up. He raised an eyebrow at my bare arm and collarbone, but didn't say anything. "I had a slight coffee mishap. I'm going up to 7 to grab a different jacket. Can you bring the food to the conference room?"

"Sure, Bomber." He said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "You're rocken' more injuries than just the one you got with me. Your arm might have been bruised, but your collarbone was fine."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm not hurt there and you know it. We just got a little carried away this morning. Now stop the innuendo and help me out."

"Got it, Bomber."

10 minutes later I was sitting in the conference room while everyone was munching on pizza. Frank and Mary were sitting next to each other, suppressing smiles. Mary must have gotten her suit out of storage, as she smelled strongly of cedar. I also noticed she had a thin silver chain around her neck that I hadn't seen before. I hadn't asked Frank about whatever it was he had bought while pretending to use the restroom at the jewelry store, but I suspected it was now on Mary's neck.

Once everyone had food in front of them Mary started giving us a report on the men we had arrested. "It looks like while we got the ringleaders, the plans were already far enough in motion that we didn't get everyone involved."

My phone rang, and I scrambled to silence it. It was Valarie, I'd call her back after the meeting.

Mary continued, "They were unable or unwilling to name anyone else. They only knew each other by screen names anyway. In fact, they claim they had never met each other until Sunday. Both gave up everything they knew."

Lester let out a sound that was half laugh, half disgust. "Terrorists being cowards? Who would have thought?"

Mary nodded. "Unfortunately they really didn't seem to know much. Potentially many people trying to smuggle in weapons, hoping someone would be able to get a shot in."

Ranger nodded. "Any chance we can skip having the President do the rope line? He'll be harder to attack when he's on stage."

Mary shook her head as my phone buzzed again. I ignored it and paid attention to what she was saying. "He's been one of the most prominent people in the world for over a decade. He refuses to live his life behind bars just because he's under threat. Trust me, we'd rather have him in the White House all the time. But we have to accommodate him, within reason."

My phone rang for the third time in as many minutes. I looked over at Ranger, and he nodded. I slipped out of the room and answered. "This better be important, Val, I'm in a meeting."

"Oh Stephanie, thank God you answered. I got a call from Mary Alice's school, and a water main broke, so everyone has to go home. Angie is on a field trip, so she's fine, but I can't get ahold of Mom, and I'm in court with Albert all day and can't get away! Can you go get her and keep her with you until court ends?"

"Why can't you get ahold of Mom?"

"The phone is busy, and you know she refuses to get call waiting. I really have to get back into court, Albert tends to blather when I'm not there to help. I can't ask a friend because only a few people have permission to pick up the kids at school, but I said any family member could."

He blathers even when she isn't, so I could imagine. And I had a feeling the phone being busy was my fault, she was probably fielding calls about my bruises and hickey. "You know we don't have much here for a kid to do."

"Just stick her in front of a TV or something. Court is going back in session. I have to go. Thanks!"

I wasn't sure I had actually agreed to anything, but she had already hung up. I sighed heavily and went back into the conference room, not looking forward to telling Ranger I had been drafted as a babysitter.