Alex had her face buried back in Joe's chest. I've never cried like this before, no one has ever held me this much before. Not like this. Like they really care about me and what is going on. James did this once but that led to sex. Alex thought. Her body totally tensed up and she put her hands on Joe's chest and then pushed away.
"Alex?"
She looked up in Joe's face. Alex could see his brow knit in confusion and concern. Joe moved forward towards her, Alex took a step back. "Don't."
"Kitten, I'm not going to hurt you. Have I done anything to hurt you?" Joe asked.
Alex shook her head.
"What is it? What do you think I'm going to do?" He asked as he stepped forward again.
"I've never been held this much before." Alex looked around the hall only seeing Joe and Lester. She saw Lester look at her with worry, the same look Joe still had on his face.
Joe stood directly in front of her again, looking down at her. "What happened when you were being held before?"
"It was a mistake. I left the apartment because Shiropolli's guys were after me about a month ago. I went over there because he said I could come anytime, he wanted me to move in with him." Alex looked down at Joe's chest. His shirt was wet; she could see the dark blue wet stains she had made with her own tears.
"You went to James' place didn't you?" Joe asked.
Alex nodded.
"You ran to him wanting to hide, you were upset, then what happened?" Joe asked.
Am I that easy to read? Or is he that good? Alex thought. She kept her eyes on Joe's chest. "He held me like you did and it was just a kiss and it was mistake. It shouldn't have happened." Alex looked up at Joe. "I never had been held like that and it felt good but not right at the same time."
"That was not your fault; he stepped over a line he should never have crossed with you. I would never do anything like that with you, Kitten." Joe reached up and caressed her cheek. "We can talk about this later. I want you to tell me everything about James."
She wanted to lean into his hand at the same time that she saw that look of raw anger in his eyes briefly before he masked it. His face went totally blank. Alex looked over at Lester, she saw him mouth out it'll be okay and he went back to the phone. She looked back at Joe. "Don't hurt James. It was my mistake, I could have stopped and I didn't. Don't hurt him."
"Kitten," She heard the sigh that escaped from Joe, "He should have known better. We'll talk about this later. When we are alone and have more time."
Lester had gotten Ranger on the phone and told him what was going on, he had waited while Ranger did a conference call with Tank, and so all three of them had been on the phone together.
"Well getting them out of the country won't be hard. We'll have to put some men on it." Tank said.
Lester was watching as Alex told Joe about her seeing Blade kill Mr. Williams. He could see that Alex was under a lot of strain. Her body was tense and then melted going from one extreme to the other. He had watched various emotions flit across her face, the extreme pressure she was under had torn down the walls of her defenses she had erected and he was witnessing her tell stuff she probably wouldn't have done otherwise given the circumstances.
"We'll put Bella on it. It'll make it easier." Ranger said.
Lester watched as Alex pulled away from Joe. He only half listened as Ranger and Tank formulated a plan that would get Joe and Alex to a safe place.
Oh, Alex. What do you mean you haven't been held that much before? Surely someone has held you before. Lester thought. "Yeah." Lester said in the phone.
"Lester? Lester?" Ranger asked.
"Someone needs to hit him." Tank said. "What the hell is going on that he can't keep up with this conversation?"
"I don't know." Ranger said.
"Lester?" Tank yelled at him.
"What?" Lester asked. He looked at Alex and mouthed it would be okay to her. Fuck Morelli, don't mess this up. She only slept with the man because she wanted to feel safe, can't see that? Lester thought as he ran his hand over his buzz cut.
"Now he decides to join us." Tank said.
"Lester what else is going on?" Ranger asked. "Did you even here me when I said we'll have Bella pose as Morelli's wife so we could get them out of the country easier and it'll be more plausible to have them hide with her?"
"Bella?" Lester asked, he laughed. Morelli isn't going to like that. A play wife, oh man. Lester thought. "Sounds good." Lester lied.
"Now I know he wasn't listening." Tank said.
Lester watched as Joe turned to him. "Is that Ranger?" Joe asked.
Lester nodded.
"Let me talk to him." Joe said.
"Morelli wants to talk to you. I'm giving him the phone." Lester said. He handed the phone over to Joe.
Ranger grimaced. He looked over at Stephanie who was sitting on her hands. Ranger had threatened if she took the phone away from him again while he was talking with Tank and Lester he'd send her to a third world country. She was having a hard time keeping herself from snatching the phone and this was the only method she found that had worked. And he had heard her groan several times while he was talking to Tank about putting men with Joe. Stephanie was the one who suggested Bella, he went with her suggestion. She had smiled brightly over that one. He felt Stephanie wanted Bella out of his apartment.
"I need some B&E done." Joe said.
Ranger then said, "What did you have in mind?"
"I need the rest of Alex's birth record. The place is closed, but the records are a mess. It'll take time finding them all." Joe said.
"I'll have someone swing by and pick you up. You'll need to pack some bags; I'll have you out of the country with Alex and in a safe location." Ranger wanted to hang up but he knew Tank was on the other end. "Tank, send Tommy and Paco to pick up Morelli. He'll have to show them where to look for these records."
"I'm on it." Tank said and he hung up.
"I'll have time to pack later." Joe said. "I don't want to go into hiding, I want information."
"You'll have more information later. Stephanie will fill you in." Ranger hung up the phone before Joe could ask anything else.
Stephanie shook her head, "You should have told him about Bella."
"We'll let that be a surprise. I can't tell him he's getting married that quickly." Ranger said and grinned.
"It's not like it's a real marriage." Stephanie said. "Turn right, you're going to miss the street."
Ranger turned and then went to the house that Stephanie pointed out. They pulled up in front of Mary Lou's house. Ranger noticed all the toys scattered across the front yard. Two bicycles, a tricycle, a big red wagon, several industrial metal Tonka trucks; Ranger bit down the smile that was trying to form on his face. The Tonka trucks were bringing back good memories.
Stephanie bounded out of the car, "Kenny, is going through a Star Wars phase. He thinks he's Darth Vader. So if he puts his hand up and waves it aside, you're supposed to run into a wall or something, which ever direction his hand goes."
She has to be joking; I'm not running into a wall for a kid. This is a kid isn't it? Ranger thought. "Why, Babe?"
"His therapist says he's suffering from middle child anxiety issues. Mary Lou and Lenny are supposed to let him have his control during play time and he really likes the force."
Ranger listened to Stephanie as she made her way around other scattered toys and he picked his way behind her in the urban toy assault in Trenton suburbia. Ranger could hear the wailing as the door bell rang. Stephanie was already dancing around the porch like she had won the lottery. The door opened. The first thing Ranger noticed was the wailing three or four year old on the floor.
"I'm dying, my stomach is empty." He lifted his eyes to look at his mother who had her back turned to him. "I'm gonna die here. I'm starved."
Mary Lou turned and looked down at her son. "Make sure you call the papers, tell them you want a full page spread on how you can starve in thirty minutes." Ranger watched her hands go on her hips. This had always been don't mess with the mama routine in his house when he was growing up. He looked back to the floor. "You can't be starved. You've had two separate breakfasts, and third helpings at lunch, and I just fed you milk and cookies thirty minutes ago. Your father will be home in an hour and we'll be going to Gran's for dinner. Now get off the floor and go find your other shoe."
Ranger watched as he threw his hands up in the air. "You don't care that I'm starving. I'm dying here." He got up and grabbed his stomach moaning. "I'm going to die before we get to Gran's."
"Knock it off, Mikey" Mary Lou said. She turned to Ranger, "Forgive him; I swear I think he's swallowed a tape worm. I can't seem to keep enough food in the house for him. Kenny, he was like that at his age, and the next thing I knew I was buying pants and shoes three sizes bigger. He's going through a growth spurt."
Ranger followed Stephanie into the house. The house relatively clean compared to the toy war zone outside.
"Where are they?" Stephanie asked.
"Oh still in Kenny's room. I left them on his desk when I had to feed Mikey." Mary Lou stated.
Stephanie and Ranger followed Mary Lou down the hall. Mary Lou stopped and Stephanie was right beside her. Ranger looked over their heads and saw Darth Vader standing in the hall. The breathing that came from the mask sounded just like the breathing in the movie. Ranger saw the finger hit the button and heard Darth Vader's voice. "You don't know the power of the dark side."
"Kenny, I need to get inside your room now. I have to get my things off your desk. You can be Darth Vader later." Mary Lou said.
Ranger saw him hit another button, and then he heard a voice that didn't quite sound normal but sounded deeper than what it should be.
"The rebel scum is not allowed inside the Death Star." He raised his hand, "The force shall cast the rebels back."
Ranger watched as he moved his hand to the left and Mary Lou and Stephanie went left right along with his hand and into the wall. Kenny turned to him. "Bow Rebel Scum or be killed."
"I'm Emperor Palpatine; I had to use this disguise. Now I need the Rebel's plans that are on the desk in the Death Star." Ranger told him.
Kenny bowed down on one knee and bowed his head. "My bidding is yours my master. Forgive me for not seeing through the force that is surrounding you. I shall get the plans and deliver them to you. Shall I kill the rebel scum that has deceived you?"
Ranger looked over to Stephanie and Mary Lou. "I'll deal with these rebel scums. Bring their plans. If you fail in this mission, I'll have to take off your helmet."
Kenny looked up at Ranger, "But my master, I cannot survive without my helmet."
"Then see you don't disappoint me." Ranger said then bit his tongue. He had to keep up appearances, but there was no way he was going to be falling into a wall because some little kid wanted his way.
"Yes my master." Kenny got up and pushed the button for the breathing and turned and walked into his room. A short time later he walked out with the notebooks and handed them to Ranger. "What is my bidding now, my master?"
Ranger took the notebooks, "The death star is being invaded, go kill the rebel scum in there."
Kenny stood after he bowed and pulled his toy light saber from his costume and turned it on, the red glow and hum coming from the toy. He opened the door to his room all the while Darth Vader's breathing could be heard, "Die Rebel Scum!" He aimed the light saber into the room and vanished behind the door.
Mary Lou and Stephanie died laughing after the door shut. "Emperor Palpatine? Why didn't I think of that?" Mary Lou groaned out and laughed more with Stephanie.
"Where's the black light?" Stephanie asked as she stopped laughing.
"In Kenny's room." Mary Lou said looking at the door.
Ranger looked back to the door, "Babe, we'll go get a black light. I think Darth Vader needs to be left alone."
Another door opened and Ranger turned his head to see a little girl about ten years old. "Mom, my pen ran out again."
"Which one, Bobby Jo?" Mary Lou asked.
"The spy pen Daddy bought me. The one that lets me right my invisible messages." She said.
Ranger bent down, "Where did you get this pen?" he asked her.
"Daddy bought it at Wal-Mart. It's really cool; because I can write notes and my friends have them too. And my little brother can't read them, well, he can under his light. But I have a light on my pen, that's not working either. They are in the toy section." She said.
"Thank you." Ranger stood back up, "Come Babe, we have to go toy shopping."
Ranger walked back down the hall with the slam books in his arms he paused when he got back to the door. Sitting in the floor was a cat, a big bluish grey cat that had a green army man in his mouth. Ranger heard Mikey.
"Die you evil cat." Mikey said. He had a big Army man, Ranger noticed he was a captain and he had seen these toys in Lester's room at headquarters. He knew these toys were Sigma 6. Ranger considered Lester a nut for collecting toys, but Lester was a big kid.
Mikey stopped stalking the cat when he saw Ranger's shoes and looked up. "It's a travesty of war."
"You win some, you loose some." Ranger told him.
"Looks like the cat's winning." Stephanie said.
"The cat always wins." Mary Lou stated and reached down to take the toy and the cat growled at her. "See what I mean. He wins all the time in the toy war."
Ranger reached for the door knob and put his foot out and slid the cat over towards Mikey. "I think you're going to need reinforcements."
Mikey jumped up, "I'll get the spray bottle, it's what Daddy does to him." Mikey ran off.
"No, no water in the house Mikey." Mary Lou called after the disappearing four year old. She looked at Stephanie, "You owe me. Joe owes me. I see a weekend coming on and babysitting."
Stephanie looked down at her watch, "Gee look at the time. We have to run."
Ranger opened the door and then looked back at Mary Lou, "Tell Stephanie when you need her to come sit. I'll make sure she has reinforcements to handle things."
Stephanie turned and looked at Ranger, "If I'm doing this, I'm bringing Emperor Palpatine with me."
Ranger grinned at her, "That was a one time act. There are no repeat performances."