Thanks to all those who reviewed my last Chapter. It really made me want to get this one out. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

A few days past and I just kept getting more confused. Ranger still hadn't sent me off to that third world country. In fact, for a guy whom I had recently shot in the arm, he was being awfully nice to me. It made me wonder what his motives were. Maybe he was lulling me into a false sense of security, then when I least expect it POW I'd be outa the country before you could say "One way ticket please."

One day he sat me down on the back patio for a serious chat. I could tell it was serious because he had his blank face on and wouldn't answer any of my questions.

"Babe, there's something I should tell you."

"There's something I need to ask you," I countered.

"I need to go first."

"No I need to go first." I was feeling very mature at this point in time.

"What I have to say will affect the rest of your time on this earth."

"What I have to ask will affect my comfort in your home until such a time as you decide that the Batcave really is forever."

"Babe. Trust me, I'm pretty sure the Batcave is forever."

"WHAT!" I screamed, "You tell me it is, then you tell me you didn't mean it and now you take it back?? What is wrong with you? Is my life so hilarious that you like to mess with my head just to get the full effect? You're SICK!"

Sighing, he said, "Relax," and that was it.

We were silent for several minutes before I found the courage to speak again."Why haven't you shipped me off to a third world country yet?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I would never do that to you, Babe."

"But I shot you!"

"It was just a flesh wound," he countered.

"You didn't even yell at me though! When Bobby shot you, you screamed your head off at him. With me you just told me to get the first aid kit."

"Babe, please there is something very important that I think you should know."

"Well out with it already. We're not getting any younger."

He sighed heavily. "It's a very hard topic to bridge Stephanie. You have to give me a moment." I nodded my assent and twiddled my thumbs while he had his moment. "You're not here."

I snapped my attention back to him. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm here. How else would you be talking to me?" as I was rambling I realised that he probably meant I wasn't here mentally and this slowed my cascade of words. "Sorry, you were saying?"

The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. "You aren't… that is to say, you're not… um…." Hang on just one ticket; was Batman lost for words? This couldn't be. "You're a delusion," he finally managed, although I don't think that's what he was originally going to say. Times like these make you wonder.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I asked, hoping there was some kind of street meaning for the word and that I wasn't going crazy.

"Its hard to tell. But I think if I step back from this for a while things will clear up."

"What do you mean clear up? Is the stalker after me to get to you? Am I in mortal danger at the moment? What are you going to do?"

Ranger's face was in his hands and his elbows were on the picnic table between us. "I don't know, Steph, I just don't know. This is the hardest thing in the world for me okay? And you're not making it any easier by hanging around!"

Confusion furrowed my brow as I processed his last exclamation. It wasn't like I could just leave. He's got security so tight I can't even fart without it being reported over three radio frequencies and televised straight to a control centre somewhere in the back of the house. "I'd leave if I could, Ranger. But you've got me locked up pretty tight."

He nodded slightly, not saying anything. I waited several moments, knowing that there was more he had to say. "I'm going to step back and just let things flow for a while and see what happens."

And that's how it was, although I wasn't sure how it had happened or what he was stepping back from. So it all seemed very much the same to me.

The day after our little chat flowers started arriving in the front hall. Before I knew it they filled the hall, the office and the living room and I couldn't take two steps without sneezing. Tank came around a few days later and it was as if I was invisible. I was standing right there in the hall when he walked in and he didn't even acknowledge me. Bastard. Being ignored isn't really something I take kindly to, but if Tank was ignoring me… maybe he wasn't doing it deliberately, maybe he simply had a lot on his mind and didn't notice me. It wouldn't be the first time.

Going back to old habits, I listened at the door of the study when Ranger and Tank went in there to discuss private matters. Well, I was assuming they were private, considering they closed and locked the door. It was a very quiet conversation and I had to strain my ears to be able to hear it. But I was very practiced in the art of keyhole listening, so it didn't much matter.

"How are you holding up?" Tank asked Ranger.

I'm sorry to leave this chapter like this. But I had to get your minds racing a little more, I was craving it. Don't worry, you will get to hear the entire Ranger-Tank conversation just as soon as I get it out of my head. Please review.