A/N All mistakes and grammar errors are mine and mine alone.
*~*
I heard another shot and rushed around to the back of the house. I heard the yelling before I got there. I saw Jesse standing, holding his gun on Joseph Contrelli. There was blood seeping through his pants leg, Joseph was rolling around on the ground, holding his leg to his chest as blood seeped from a wound on his leg.
Jesse saw me and shrugged. "He shot me first."
I rolled my eyes and glanced at my ringing phone. It was Tank. I grimaced and turned off the ringer.
"Not somebody you want to talk to?" Jesse asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Tank. He is going to flip." I replied and Jesse began to laugh.
I sighed and strained my ears for sirens. "The cops are probably already on their way."
Jesse put his gun at the small of his back. "I could hear the sirens. You want to cuff him?"
I shrugged. "Do we need to? He doesn't look like he's going anywhere."
Joseph was still on the ground holding his wounded leg. "Fuck both of you." He said through gritted teeth.
Jesse grinned at me. "I think he likes us."
I rolled my eyes again and groaned as Joseph Morelli, Big Dog and Carl arrived. "Great." I muttered.
Jesse raised an eyebrow at me. "Problems?"
I nodded. "Ex boyfriend problems."
Big Dog reached us before the others and glanced at Jesse. "What did you do now?"
I narrowed my eyes. "I didn't do anything. You're going to need an ambulance though."
"Carl's already got one on the way. What happened?" He asked, gesturing toward Joseph.
"He's FTA. I sent Jesse around the back of the house and Joseph Contrelli shot him. Jesse shot back." Big Dog glanced at Jesse.
He shrugged. "He shot me first."
"Who are you?"
"Jesse James Williamson. Stephanie's new partner." I glared as Big Dog burst out laughing.
"Good luck, man. She goes through partner like she goes through cars." Carl said from behind us.
I narrowed my eyes and gave him my best 'Burg glare.
Jesse smiled and cut his eyes at me. "I think I've got pretty good chances."
I moved to stand beside Jesse as Morelli approached our group. He glanced down at me, understanding in his eyes. He tucked his head down next to my ear and whispered, "I think I'm going to need some support standing up, think I can lean on you a little?"
I nodded and he put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side. His eyes were dancing with amusement as Morelli's frown deepened.
"What happened here?" Morelli snapped, pinning me with a glare.
"Well, this FTA shot my new partner and my partner shot him back."
"I didn't know Vinnie was hiring new people, looks like he'll have to hire another one since he's getting charged with assault with a deadly weapon." Morelli smiled at me, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Justin let out a bark of laughter that shook us both. "I don't work for that moron. I work for Rangeman, Detective."
"Come on, Morelli. You and I both know if we took him into custody, Manoso would have him out of trouble in about an hour." Carl yelled over his shoulder as he led Joseph Contrelli to the ambulance waiting at the bottom of the driveway.
Morelli's mouth drew into a thin line and he put his fists on his hips. I'd seen that posture before, he was controlling his anger and it didn't look like he was doing a very good job.
Justin cleared his throat. "I hate to break up this party, but I'm still bleeding here so I'll be hopping along to a hospital."
He removed his arm from my shoulders and tipped his hat to Morelli, Carl and Big Dog. "Oh and don't worry, I'll be available for questioning." He limped away to my car.
I shook my head at him and wave to Carl and Big Dog.
*~*
Four hours and seven staples later, I was pulling into the garage at Rangeman. I had already prepared myself for the barrage of teasing and torment I would get when I got there. I got out and pulled Jesse's crutches from my backseat. I helped him stand and get balanced. He was remarkably good humored about the whole thing. If someone had shot me, I would be in a horrible mood, but not Jesse. He had teased me about Morelli the entire car ride to the hospital. The fortunately short ride to Rangeman was filled with questions about me.
"So how long have you worked here?" Jesse asked as we got in the elevator.
I shrugged. "Off and on for a few years. What did you do before you came to work here?"
I felt his mood change and he kept his gaze focused on his shoes. "I was in the Marines, did four tours in Iraq." He took a deep breath and looked over at me. His eyes were intense and were such a dark blue they almost looked black. "Finally got out about two months ago."
I chewed my lip and willed the elevator to go faster. "I'm sorry I asked."
He shrugged and gave me a small sad smile. "Shit happens." The elevator stopped and he shook his head as if to clear it. "Come on, let's get this over with."
I nodded in agreement. I stepped off the elevator and gulped. Tank was waiting for us and he was NOT happy.
*~*
A/N: Writers block and reality! Shew! Hopefully it wasn't too bad, I kind of rushed through this to give you something since I was feeling a little bad about not posting for so long! Reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy and give me a reason to go on! Thank you all in advance!
