DISCLAIMER: All familiar characters belong to Janet. I make no money off of this, I just write for fun.

I watch as Steph downs her second margarita. She has the worst alcohol tolerance of anyone I know so the fact that she's already tipsy doesn't surprise me.

I share an amused glance with Erik and shake my head. "I'm cutting you off after this one, speedy wonder. You shouldn't be drinking them as quickly as you are." I'm glad I decided not to drink, between Erik and Steph I'm gonna have to be the driver.

She rolls her eyes. "You're the one who told me to get drunk!" She points out, waving a finger at me.

"Yes, I was, that was mainly because I wanted to talk to you without you being all uptight about it." Was it wrong for me to do that? Possibly. But what's more red in my ledger? Plus, she really did need to loosen up some. She hasn't mentioned it to me yet..probably out of spite but one of her skips is giving her issues.

I don't know if it's really bad yet and I would hope she'd tell me if it was, but if she doesn't fess up in the next couple days, I'll just have to give Vinnie a call.

She narrows her eyes at me and pushes her almost fishbowl sized glass away. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"What did Ranger do to make you so mad?" That's not the only thing I plan to ask her but after her reaction I'm curious.

Erik snorts. "Classic, get her drunk and ask the hard questions. You have no shame do you, Alexandria."

The use of my full name gets him a chunk of tomato to the face. "No, I don't, if I did, I'd feel bad for that." I try to keep a serious face as he wipes the red smudges away but end up laughing at the grumpy expression, he sends me.

"Bitch." He mumbles, picking another piece of tomato off his shirt.

"Jerk." I shot back before looking back at Steph, her eyes look a little heavy, so I know she'll most likely end up asleep soon. "So?" I prompt. "What did he say?"

She sighs, and slumps back in her seat. "We were having a nice moment, that did involve some kissing and I may have tried to take it a little further, I'll spare you the details. But then he started with the excuses he always gives me. I'm no good for you right now, babe. I can't give you all of me, babe. And my personal favorite, my type of commit does not involve a ring, babe. Ugh!"

I watch her, all of those seem a little blunt. But I have to at least respect that he isn't leading her on. "You said these were common things he says, so why did it bother you so much this time?"

I still have some catching up to do with Stephanie's life. I know she was dating the cop Joe Morelli for a while but that ended before I came home, it was a mess of screaming and anger for both of them at least I've heard.

She slumps further if that's even possible. "Because I thought these last couple months were different." Now there's tears in her eyes.

Shit. "Please don't cry."

"I don't want to! Not over something so stupid, I–just thought we were finally getting somewhere, then he had to make it a point to push me away again." A few tears plop down her cheek and I feel like an absolute bitch for pushing.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't have to talk about it anymore." Grabbing a napkin, I reach over and brush the tears away. "You want me to drive you home?"

She nods, wiping the tears I missed away and standing up on shaky legs. "Yes please, I can't drive like this."

I stand with her wrapping an arm around her shoulder and drop the cash for the food and drinks on the table, looking at Erik. "You too, get up. I'll drive you back to you're place as well."

Erik, who's equally as drunk, slinks up and stumbles. "Tsanks." He slurs.

Oh jeez, rolling my eyes I wrap my other arm around his shoulder. "You two will be the death of me."

"Okay, mom." They both call out as I half carry them to the door.

This is not what I meant by tonight was going to be great.

OoOoOoO

After dropping Erik off and making sure he got inside safe I make my way to Steph's apartment, glancing over at her when I park to see her passed out. A few brown curls cover her eyes, she looks peaceful. I don't know what will come of her and Ranger. They both seem to have commitment issues; I don't plan to push my luck and interfere with it. They need to figure it out on their own, but it would be nice if they could do it quickly.

I don't like seeing her hurt, even if it's just emotionally. I missed a lot of time with her going into the military right out of high school. I want to make up for lost time and help her be happy.

I wasn't always a good sister and I plan to right that wrong.

I get out and head to the passenger door, opening it gently and shaking her shoulder. "Hey, were here."

She opens her eyes a little and sighs. "Can't I just sleep hereee." She whines.

I chuckle and reach over unbuckling her seat belt. "No, you'll hurt you're neck sleeping upright like that."

"Mmm fine." She tries to get out and catches her foot falling forward.

I catch her and stand her upright, moving her away from the pothole she stepped in. "Woah, easy there. Let me help you inside."

I manage to get her inside and up the elevator without falling. When we make it to her door I prop her up against the wall and dig through her purse for the keys. "You should make me a copy so nights like this will be easier." I say, as I unlock the door.

"I'll keep it in mind." She mumbles.

"No, you won't, ten bucks says you don't remember half of this in the morning." I grab her and help her inside, slamming the door shut with my foot and help her to her room, gently setting her on her bed.

She curls up almost instantly.

"Okay, sleep well." I say, sliding her boots off and throwing the blanket over her.

"Thanks, Alex."

" No problem, sis. Call me when you come back to life in the morning."

No response, a peek at the blanket shows she's already passed out. I shake my head with a chuckle and set some Advil and water on her side table before heading to the door. I set her keys back in her purse after picking it up off the ground and lock the door before walking out, running into Ranger.

We stare at each other for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" I finally ask.

His face is once again expressionless. "I came to see Stephanie. What are you doing here?"

"I carried her drunk ass upstairs and put her in bed." Is my reply, and yes, I said it like that to mess with him.

"...Is she okay?"

"Yes, she is, thanks to me." Okay so that's a little mean but like I said I won't directly interfere, but I can try and speed it along.

He doesn't flinch at the accusation in my statement. "I'll be on my way then."

I shrug and push past him. "She's asleep but I'm sure that won't stop you from going in if you really want to." I make it to the elevator and turn back to see him staring at her door. "I'm going to say one thing before I'm officially employed by you; you can't have it both ways, either push her away and stay away or fix it and stick around." The door opens and I step in, not looking back as it closes.

I've tried, now it's his turn too.

And I really hope he doesn't fire me for that tomorrow.

A/N: Hey! Not sure how I feel about this, but I wanted to let you all know what happened between Ranger and Steph before diving into Lester and Alex moments. Hope you liked it! Also, I was planning to update yesterday but ended up in the hospital last night. I'm okay now but unless something like that happens again Saturday and Sundays will be the days, I update the most. Hope everyone has had a great day so far! ~Abi