Disclaimer: Just playing with Janet's characters.
Note from Amy Lynne: My last update for the day. My friend had time to look through before she went to work. How nice of her. Probably won't get an update again until the middle of the week. Review and let me know what you think!

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After I got off the phone with Ranger I started pacing around the apartment. I called down to the command center and told them as soon as Ranger was back in the building they were to let me know. I don't really know if Hector understood, but he said 'Si', so I was hoping for the best. I doubted I would actually get a call, but it made me feel like I was going something productive.

I tried to call Joe and get some answers from him on the Terry front, but all I got was his voice mail. "Call me the second you get this if you want to live to see tomorrow."

I liked my message.

I ended up going and laying down in Ranger's heavenly sheets, but not even that was keeping me calm.

I knew I was in a bad way. There were too many thoughts running in my head.

Amelia Lions, Jean Ellen, Terry Gilman, Joe, and Ranger. They all seem to be connected. This was more than just a coincidence. Hmmm. I'd have to wait until I talked to Eddie and could suck some information out of Ranger before I came to any conclusions. Hey, Ranger did say we would talk when he got back. Whether that meant he would tell me we couldn't talk about it or he would give me a breadcrumb I wasn't sure.

I finally fell asleep on the couch watching Ghostbusters for the sixth time around 3AM.

I woke up feel refreshed, if that was even possible. I reached to my left and stretched myself out a bit. I was pretty sure I was in Ranger's bed. I guess that means Ranger came back sometime. At least I knew he was alright. Then I heard the noise that had woken me up.

A ringing.

A very annoying ringing.

The type of ringing that I hear when my mother calls my cell phone.

I groaned and rolled over grabbing the phone off the nightstand. I squinted my eye open and saw the read out. 'Mom'.

I considered just letting it ring and ring, but then the words from Mary Lou came flushing back to me and I thought it would be better if I just got it out of the way.

I squeezed my eyes shut and sat up in the bed. Taking a deep breath I flipped the phone open.

"Hey, Ma. I swear, whatever rumors you're hearing about Joe and me getting married are not true. And the ones about Ranger and me having triplets is even less true. Not an ounce of truth. So please, since I know you're already doing, stop ironing the toilet paper and let the house breathe. Don't worry about what to tell the neighbors. Tell them they are all lies."

There was a small breath that I could almost swear sounded like a laugh. My mother wouldn't laugh about this. I must still be half-asleep.

"It's very nice to know that Ricardo isn't having children with a woman he has yet to introduce to the family."

Huh?

"Ma, what the hell are you..."

I think I just lost my voice.

Since when did my mother have an accent? Since when did she call Ranger anything other than 'that bounty hunter'? Since when would my mother think that this situation was funny? She would never make a joke. And since when would my mother be concerned with me meeting Ranger's family?

I was getting a bad feeling about this. A horrible, sickening, terrible, stick-a-fork-in-me-I'm done, feeling about this.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked down at the phone in my hands.

Definitely not my phone.

Definitely Ranger's phone.

That means I was talking to ... HOLY SHIT.

"Babe?"

I looked up and there was Ranger, in all his naked and wet glory. Hair down, towel around his waist, staring at me with probably the most confused look that he could muster.

I looked at him, then looked at the phone. Then I looked back and him.

"Oh. My. God." I jumped off the bed and handed him the phone. I think I was near tears. Hell, I might have already been crying. "Ranger I am soooooo sorry. I talked to Mary Lou last night and you know how the Burg grapevine works. Well, apparently I'm having your triplets and Morelli is going to raise them as his own and we're getting married. I heard a phone ringing and rolled over and saw Mom and just assumed it was my mother calling me to freak out." I gently placed the phone in his hands. He looked it.

For the first time ever I think Batman didn't know what to do.

"I might have just answered your phone. And I might have just have told the Batmom that I'm not giving her grandchildren. And I'm pretty sure I'm about to be shipped off to a third world country. All I ask is that you let me say goodbye to Rex. No matter how horrible a mother I am to him, he deserves to know the truth of what's going on. Tell my mother I love her, tell Grandma that I was kidnapped by the Slayers again (she'll like that story), tell Valerie to stop being so damn perfect. Tell my dad I'll miss him. Tell Connie, and Lula, and Mary Lou that they were the best shopping buddies ever. Hell, I'm even going to miss Morelli, and Mooner, and Tank and Lester and Bobby. Just make sure there's a mall near by and I might be okay. How many malls do they have in Ethiopia anyway?"

I was pretty sure I was still talking, but by now Ranger had taken the phone and was talking in rapid Spanish to his mother.

Holy shit I was just talking to the Batmom. And now Ranger was talking to Batmom. Oh. God.

I was sitting on the corner of the bed trying to calm my breathing, I was close to hyperventilating. Ranger was standing in the doorway to the bathroom. I wasn't looking at him in the face, but I knew he was there.

I'm pretty sure he kept telling his mother 'no' about something. Oh God, I was in so much trouble.

I climbed back into the bed, curling into a ball around a pillow, deciding if I was going to go, I was going to enjoy these sheets at least one last time. I almost thought about sleep, but whatever was coming for me, I wanted to see it coming. Didn't want any surprises.

I heard Ranger get off the phone and walk back into the bedroom. I pried an eye open. Still in a towel. Still wet. Still yummy. Still going to ship me off.

"Babe." I heard him walk closer to the bed and then sit. He put his hand on my back. "Babe?"

I rolled over and looked at him. "I am so so so so so so so sorry."

"She was very interested in you." I raised an eyebrow, or both my eyebrows since I can't raise just one. Notice he didn't accept my apology, though.

"Apology accepted, even though you did happen to tell her I was wet and only in a towel." Yes! The ESP works in my favor! But wait, I told his mother he was only in a towel. Why me?! "She wanted you to come to dinner on Saturday night." That had me sitting straight up in bed.

Me? Dinner? Batfamily? I think I might have just had a mini-orgasm. Ranger laughed.

"I told her we couldn't make it. Have Mary Alice's birthday party." I nodded my head.

"You said we." See, I can notice things, too.

"Yeah, Babe, I did. I heard you threatened Bobby, so I thought I would take on this punishment myself." He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. "You're not leaving this building until then."

"Excuse you?" You think these people would learn how do deal with me by now. You tell me I'm not or I can't do something, that's going to be the one thing I want to do. I swear, these men, complete idiots.

And by the way Ranger was looking at me I think I was mumbling that all out loud. Damn. It was just not my morning.

"Babe, you can either stay here willingly, or I'm going to cuff one hand to Bobby and one hand to Lester." I shot him a look. "You could have easily be killed yesterday. You said this Christopher guy admitted being responsible in some way for the semi accident. He held a gun to your head. You are not leaving this building." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Don't give me that look, Babe."

"I'll leave if I damn well please." And just to prove a point I made to get up, but Ranger was too quick. He had me pinned underneath him in two seconds flat, leaving soft kisses across my collarbone.

"I can make it worth your wild." I swallowed hard. Stay focused, Stephanie! Stay focused!

"So you can leave whenever you please to see Jean Ellen?" Probably not the smartest thing to say, because Ranger stopped dead in his tracks, right in the valley between my breasts. I swear, he wasn't breathing, and I don't think I was.

Wait, when did my shirt get off?

He planted one small kiss on me.

"That was work."

"What kind of work?"

"The kind you don't can't know about." I pushed him off me and walked over to the dresser.

"Ranger, I want to go home, back to my apartment." I could hear Ranger moving around on the bed behind me. I turned around to look at him while we were talking and oh good lord the towel had some how fallen off. I quick turned back around to the dresser. "Can you honestly expect me to be able to have a clear thought with you like that?" I heard him move and he came up behind me, running his hands down my arms lightly.

"Just stay here for today, Babe. At least until I can think of something better. Please." Damn that word.

"Urg! Fine!" I tossed my clothes on the floor and marched to the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me.

Ranger was going to be the death of me. He got all defensive last night over Morelli, but I can't be a little upset of Jean Ellen?

Why did this all of a sudden feel like Ranger and me were in some kind of relationship. This is very strange. We need to have a talk. A big. I could tell it was big if I was admitting to need to it. I was confused. I was in danger (again). I was being kept one step below in a safe house. Ranger was being possessive. Maybe it was just the threat? If it was, why did it feel like more? Urg.

I opened the door to ask Ranger exactly what the hell was going on. I stuck my head into the room and didn't seem him, but I could hear the apartment door close.

&&&&&

It was ten in the morning and I had absolutely nothing to do. I was already bored. I had gotten dressed and had breakfast (the most amazing omelette ever made in the history of the world). I had called my mother. Apparently my telling Mary Lou what happened to the Turbo last night stopped the pregnant and getting married rumors, at least for now. I could hear my grandmother in the background trying to get my mother to ask me all the details, but it wasn't happening. Mom was just having fun complaining.

Now I was lying on my back, spread eagle, on Ranger's bed.

That's it, I could take it anymore. I am not meant to sit in one place and do nothing.

I walked through the apartment, grabbed a set of keys, and made my way to the command center on the fifth floor. I was going to find out what Ranger was up to. I wasn't exactly sure, but I was going to figure it out when I got there. I can think on my feet, most of the time.

No one seemed to notice when I entered the floor. Either that or they didn't care. Good, less of a chance someone would notice me corner a Merry Man. Tank was working with Lester on something in the corner, probably a battle plan to keep me occupied. Hector was, once again, manning the monitors. Sheesh, did that guy do anything else? A few guys who I only knew in passing were making their way to the gym. And there was Bobby, sitting in an opposite corner, reading some kind of report.

Bingo.

I walked over to him and sat down. He nodded at me and kept drinking whatever it was he was drinking (I thought maybe tea from the smell, but I couldn't be sure).

I turned in my chair to face him, but he just ignored me. I leaned on my elbow. I was going to at least give him the chance to say hi.

"What Ranger working on?" Okay, maybe not.

Bobby just looked up to me for a moment and then back down. Damn these Merry Men and their ability to ignore people. I really needed to get that skill. There are plenty of people I would love to be able to ignore on a moments notice.

"Bobby?"

"Bomber."

"What's Ranger working on."

"Secret."

"Elaborate."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Tell me or else."

Bobby put the report down. "Or else what?"

"Or else I'm going to try and sneak out of here and then you're going to be stuck with me and Lester until Saturday. Just think. I'll have to go to the bathroom, seeing my Grandmother, Lula, Mary Lou and her kids. You'll have to sleep in Ranger's apartment." Okay, so we probably wouldn't be sleeping in Ranger's apartment, but it was worth mentioning. And ha! He was looking nervous.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you, Bomber?" I almost felt bad for him.

"Does it have something to do with Amelia Lions?" His eyes were wide. "I'll take that as a yes. Is he protecting her?" Eyes still wide. I patted Bobby on the shoulder. "Thanks buddy, that's all I needed." I went and walked back over to the elevator, walked in, and down to the garage. Damn, who knew getting information out of a Merry Man would be that easy?

I played with the keys in my hand a little bit and then looked back and forth. I made a mad dash for the Bronco. Oh dear God let Hector be pre-occupied. Oh please, oh please, oh please. Maybe if I just acted like I was allowed to live no one would think twice if they happened to be watching.

Who was I kidding, I needed to get out of here and out of her fast.

I got in, turned the key and almost did a little dance. I backed up and headed for the gate, pushing the button for it to open. It didn't. I slowed down a bit, but didn't completely stop, and hit the button again. Still nothing. I came to a complete stop and put the Bronco in park. Come on you stupid keypad! I started pounding on the buttons. Gah! Not fair!

I nearly pissed myself when I heard a knock on my window. It was Hector. Interesting. If Ranger was in the building I'm sure he would have come down himself. I guess that means he's out having a good time with Amelia Lions and the other bitch. Maybe this means I won't get told on.

I put my window down and did a little finger wave. "Hi."

"No."

"No?"

"No. You stay, Bomber. Boss order."

I was going to argue, but I turned in my seat and saw what appeared to be the entire staff behind me in the parking garage. Damn. He couldn't just send one. No, not Ranger. He had to have the whole staff come out after me. If it was only one I might have chanced it by gunning through the gate, but this? This was a bit insane.

"Oooh, Ranger wants me to stay in the building."

"Si."

I gave a sheepish laugh. "Yeah, I forgot."