Family Ties

Chapter 1

I woke up shaking and sweating, breathing hard. That had been a bad one. The nightmares that had plagued me since the Slayers incident two months ago were never the same, and I could never seem to predict when one would happen.

I threw off my blankets, and turned on every light in the apartment. I turned on the stereo too, trying to use light and noise to banish the last of the panic. I took a long, hot shower, and started to feel better. Not well enough to go back to sleep, but enough to be comfortable in my own apartment.

My phone rang, and I wondered for a minute who would be calling me in the middle of the night. The caller id said Joe.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cupcake, I was driving by your apartment on my way home and noticed your lights on. Everything okay?"

"Sure, everything's fine."

"Steph, you still having nightmares?"

I sighed. "Now and then."

"You want me to come over?"

"Thanks Joe, but I'm really okay."

I decided to change the subject, fast. "What are you doing driving home at this hour anyway, hot date?"

He chuckled, "Well, lukewarm would be more accurate. All she did the whole evening was complain about my job. Why did you put up with that from me for all that time?"

"Because I was an idiot. Kinda late to be getting home for lukewarm, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well..."

I laughed. "You slept with her anyway?"

"This feels weird...to be discussing my sex life with another woman with you."

"That's what friends do Joe. They talk about things. So you did sleep with her?"

"Um...yeah."

"Are you going to see her again?"

"Probably."

"Good."

"Listen Steph, we are friends, and if there's something you want to talk about, I'll be here. If you don't want to talk to me, the department has a psychologist, I could put you in touch with him."

I sighed, looks like I didn't get to change the subject for long. "Thanks Joe, I'll think about it."

"No problem Cupcake. I'm home now, so I'm gonna go. Call me if you need me, okay?"

"I will. Goodnight."

I hung up feeling much better. When Joe and I broke up a few days after the Slayers' mess, we did it without fuss or fanfare, and promised to stay friends. At the time, I wondered if we would be able to do that. I had been pleasantly surprised by how easy and uncomplicated our friendship was, now that we weren't trying to be more to each other. We still saw a lot of each other, but we could spend time together without tension. We had even discussed the possibility of a 'friends with benefits' option, but had decided against it. Besides, while I couldn't admit it to Joe (and barely admitted it to myself), his weren't the arms I wanted around me.

I put a movie in the VCR and laid down on the couch. I thought I might be able to sleep now.

I woke to a familiar tingle, and rolled over to find Ranger staring down at me. Uh-oh, that is not a happy stare.