Disclaimer: See ch. 1

Spoilers: Through 14

A/N: I am sooo sorry for the wait. I was sick for awhile and writing just required too much energy, then I had to catch up on the homework I'd been putting off. Ah well, here you are. Enjoy!


Previously in Just Life:

Steph rushed to the hospital following the Rangeman confrontation with Trotter. There was a bit of a misunderstanding and it took awhile for Steph to figure out that it was Tank and Hal who were injured, not Ranger. A bit of exam table smut. ;)


Bobby was standing outside of Hal's room, peering in through the glass, when we walked up.

"Report," Ranger murmured more gently than I've ever heard him with his men.

"No progress," Bobby replied without turning. "But he's not any worse either."

Ranger nodded and took a few steps forward so that we were standing next to Bobby at the window. Hal was as we'd left him, pale and unmoving on the bed, his chest rising and falling slowly.

Suddenly, beeping filled the room and hallway, an alarm going off. Nurses came rushing from up the hall, a doctor or two on their heels.

"He's flat-lining," one of the nurses called, and then the flurry was impossible to follow. One of the nurses pulled the shades over the window and we were cut off from the activity within the room.

Ranger's arms tightened around my waist and I clutched his hands over my abdomen. Bobby was gritting his teeth beside us.

"In the army," Ranger said softly, "you learn to expect that not all of your men will make it home in one piece. It's just a fact of life out there. But you never really get used to it."

"He could be fine," I whispered, not even sure if they would hear me over the commotion on the other side of the glass.

"Your optimism," Ranger whispered in my ear, "is another reason why I love you."

I had to be optimistic, had to believe that Hal would be okay, because if he wasn't it was really all my fault, wasn't it? They had gone out there, after Trotter, because of me.

"This was not your fault, babe. Trotter was on our radar long before Mortars targeted you, or you fell into Trotter's hands."

My train of thought took on a whole new set of questions. What would have happened if Lester had been out there instead of Hal? Would Lester be okay? Or would he be the one in there on a hospital bed fighting for his life?

"Mr. Manoso?" A man in a white coat walked towards us at Ranger's nod.

"Mr. McGovern went into cardiac arrest. We were able to revive him and he is stable for now. If he doesn't wake up soon, I'm afraid his chances don't look very good."

Mr. McGovern?

"Hal," Ranger said into my ear.

"Thank you, Doctor," Bobby said.

Bobby turned to us once the doctor was gone.

"Why don't you guys head back to Rangeman and get some rest. I'll stay with Hal until the next shift."

"What about Tank?" I asked.

"Lula's with him," Bobby replied with a hint of a grin. "She was not happy with you for letting him get hurt, my man."

"Fuck," Ranger muttered. I'm sure the last thing he wanted right now was to deal with Lula in rhino-mode.

"If I were you, I'd get the hell out of Dodge," Bobby instructed.

Ranger decided to take advice for once.


"That bastard," I heard Ranger mutter as we ascended in the elevator to the seventh floor of Rangeman.

"What?" I asked, turning in his arms so that I could look up into his face. "Who?"

"Tank."

"Excuse me?"

He looked down at me and his lips tipped up fractionally.

"The bullet he took, it was meant for me."

That took all the air right out of me. Someone had been shooting at Ranger? Well, duh, Plum. He probably gets shot at more than even you do.

"So, he…he took a bullet for you?" I asked quietly, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Ranger had almost been shot.

"Yeah, babe."

"And that makes him a bastard."

"Yeah, babe."

I stared at him even as the elevator doors slid open and he ushered me out into the hall.

"I don't understand."

He was quiet as he opened the door to the apartment and pushed me gently through it. He shut and locked the door, then led me to the couch and sat down. I moved to sit beside him, but he pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"How would you feel if I jumped in front of a bullet that was meant for you?"

I tried to pull away so that I could turn around and gape at him, but he wouldn't let me.

"Answer the question, babe."

"Well, that would be stupid of you because…"

"Exactly."

"What?"

His arms tightened around me and he spoke next close to my ear. "It's hard enough to know that someone you care about is hurt. It's even harder knowing that it should have been you, that they're hurt because of you."

"But, Ranger…"

"It might not be right or sane or even logical, babe, but it's the way I feel, okay?"

I swallowed hard to keep the words from bubbling up, and nodded.

"In a day or two, I'll be over it and I'll thank Tank for saving my life, again, but for now just let me be mad at him. It's my way of dealing."

It was kind of strange, but I could see exactly what he was saying. If it had been Ranger getting shot by a bullet meant for me, I would have felt the same way. Who'd have thought that Batman and I would have similar coping techniques?

"Okay, Ranger."

"Good." He sighed softly and nuzzled his face into my hair.

I couldn't help the shiver it elicited.

"So, um, you love me?" I almost slapped my hand right over my mouth after that one. What the hell was I thinking? This was all so new and fragile, how could I say something so stupid and…

"Yeah, babe, I do."

I sat as still as I could. Did I hear him right? Was he actually answering questions without sexual innuendos or confusing qualifiers? I decided that I might as well push it.

"And, um, it's not like last time?"

"No, babe, it's not."

"So, what's it like?"

His hands came down to my waist and he turned me so that I was sideways on his lap and we could see each other's faces.

"I love you. Period."

"In your own way," I amended.

"In every way."

"But you said…"

"I said a lot of things, babe."

Okay, here was the Ranger I knew. Short, confusing answers that told me nothing of interest. God help me.

"Your love comes with a condom, you don't do stupid things like marriage, I'm entertainment. Shall I go on?"

His eyes closed briefly and I saw what I'm pretty sure was pain etch itself onto his face before he opened his eyes and it disappeared.

"You have to understand, amada. I really wasn't in a position to be in a relationship then. Besides, I'd been watching you go back to Morelli over and over again for more than a year. Every time the two of you broke up, you went back to him. You couldn't really expect me to lay it all out there and have you throw it in my face when you went back to the cop."

"But you sent me back to him." Was this really how Ranger felt? Was he really more vulnerable than he let on? Apparently.

"Once."

"That night after we…you just walked out. You didn't say a goddamn word except to tell me to fix things with Joe. It hurt, Ranger. It hurt more than I thought it could."

"And I'm sorry for that, babe. But I had no way of knowing that you wouldn't go back to him anyway. I was protecting myself, babe. I was protecting my heart."

One of his hands was running gently up and down my back. With the other, he tipped my chin up and caught my eyes.

"I'm not Batman, babe. I'm not Superman. I'm just a man, with a heart, and a weakness for accident-prone brunettes." His smile was soft and warm. "It hurt me every time you went back to him, but I couldn't do anything about it. So I sent you back to him before you could do it on your own and hurt me even more."

"Ranger…"

He ignored me and went on. "I wasn't a free agent, babe. I couldn't fight for you, take you from him, when I had nothing to give you, not even me. I wasn't about to start a relationship with you when I could be called away for anywhere from a week to two years. And there was always the chance that I wouldn't come home at all."

I'm pretty sure I was crying at this point, but I couldn't move to swipe at the moisture on my face.

"It would have hurt me anyway," I whispered, "if you hadn't come home."

Ranger's hands came up to cup my face and his fingers chased the tears off my cheeks.

"I know. And it kills me to think about it."

I took a deep breath. "But now you're a…a free agent."

He remained silent, his fingers tracing nonsense patterns on my cheeks. The silence scared me. When Ranger's quiet, he's either mad or he's hiding something.

"Ranger?"

"I kind of walked out on the final debriefings… so that's still unclear."

He wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Ranger!"

Suddenly his eyes were on mine, and they were blazing. My breath caught in my throat.

"You were in trouble, Stephanie, and I couldn't just sit there and listen to those suits babble while you were out there in the hands of Trotter and his lackies. I couldn't, babe. I just…"

"But, Ranger…"

I'm sure he could hear the panic in my voice, see the hysteria beginning in my eyes. They weren't taking him from me again, not now that I finally had him.

He tucked me into his chest and rested his chin on top of my head.

"Hopefully they'll send the paperwork, I'll sign it, and it'll be over. But if not, I'm done anyway. I'm not waiting for you any longer, Stephanie. And I'm not leaving you again. I'll take you away and hide us out before I do that."

I peered up at him, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth despite the seriousness of his tone.

"Who says I'd go with you?"

"…babe?"

"Oh, who am I kidding? I love you, Carlos. If it came to that, of course I'd run away with you."

"Babe," he growled.

I could feel the rumble in his chest, next to my ear. Then he was pulling me up and crashing his lips to mine and I gave him everything in that kiss; every fear, every doubt, every moment of sadness and hope and ecstasy we'd ever experienced. I gave him all my love, all my heart, all my soul. And later, when we moved to the bedroom, I gave him all the rest of me.


"Mmmm, babe, you really have to let me get up now or I won't make it down to the office at all today."

Awww, that's just too bad now, isn't it, I thought as I licked a line from his nipple up to his neck.

"Babe," he groaned. "It's already 9:30. If it were any other day, know that I would stay here in a second, but I've got a meeting with an important client in half an hour."

"Fine," I grumbled, rolling away from him and crossing my arms over my chest.

He followed me, placing one hand on either side of my head and leaning down to capture my lips.

"What are your plans for today?" He murmured against my lips.

"I don't know," I huffed, still playing annoyed. "I thought I might go by the bank and deposit the last few checks I got from Connie before this mess started. Then I might go to my apartment."

His eyes narrowed. "To get some stuff?"

I blinked up at him a few times. "Huh?"

"You're just going to swing by to get some more clothes and stuff, right?"

"Umm."

One of his hands came over to cup my cheek, his finger running back and forth across my lower lip.

"Babe? You'll be back tonight, right?"

"You…you want me to stay here? You're not sick of me yet?"

He sat down beside me and pulled me into his lap.

"Babe, I could never get sick of you. And besides, this mess isn't over yet, we still haven't found Mortars."

Right, I thought, the bad guy. So that's why he doesn't want me to leave yet.

"Babe," he said, pulling my face around to look at him. "I want you here, always. Even once we find Mortars. I love going to bed with you, waking up with you in my arms. I love the thought of you being here when I get home from work. Stay with me, Stephanie."

I couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, I merely nodded and then buried my head in his chest before he could see the tears of joy forming in my eyes.

"Babe," he chuckled. "Just wait until I bring you to the Batcave."

I think I might have hyperventilated had he not chosen that moment to distract me with another scorching kiss.

"Alright, now I really have to go," he murmured once he'd pulled away. "Take one of the guys with you if you go anywhere."

"Lester?"

I'm pretty sure he growled.

"If that will make you happy."

Silly jealous Ranger. He had to know that there was no other man on the planet as far as I was concerned; not now that I finally had my very own Batman.


An hour later, after a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, compliments of Ella, I was riding shotgun in a black SUV, Lester in the driver's seat.

"So you and Rangeman finally get your acts together?"

I kept my head studiously turned to the window.

"I don't think that's really any of your business."

I could hear the laughter in his voice as he replied. "But you did, didn't you? Good for you."

"Yeah, um, thanks."

"It's about time you two realized you were meant for each other."

I turned to him with a raised eyebrow…okay, eyebrows.

"Very poetic coming from Rangeman's resident 'playa'."

He shrugged. "I'm not really as bad as the guys like to pretend. I mean, yeah, I get a lot of ladies, but I'm no heartbreaker. They all know going in that it is what it is."

"And what is it?"

He looked uncomfortable. But, no it had to be my imagination, because when was Lester Santos ever uncomfortable about anything?

"They know it's not a commitment. They know it's all about the sex."

"Ahhh," I said, nodding sagely. "So you've got commitment issues, like Ranger. Must run in the family."

He glanced at me quickly out of the corner of his eye. "No, not like Ranger. Ranger is perfectly willing to settle down, he just felt that he couldn't for a long while there. Now that he's found you and the government contract isn't hanging over his head, I think he'll be as committed as it's possible to be."

"And you?"

He was quiet for awhile. We pulled into the bank parking lot and Les parked the car, but made no move to get out.

"I was engaged for awhile, you know?"

I hadn't known. It seems there was a lot I didn't know about Lester.

"Anyway, it didn't work out. Since then, I guess I kind of just refrain from making any real connections, harder to get hurt that way."

"Doesn't it get lonely?" I asked quietly.

"As hell," he muttered. When he turned to me there was a bright smile on his face. "What do you say we go deposit those checks?"

I nodded, still processing the fact that my perceptions about Lester had all been pretty much wrong.

He was around, opening my door in a moment, and a few minutes after that we were standing in one of those horrendously long lines that seem to move like one inch every twenty minutes.

"Les, how come your engagement didn't…"

"Everybody on the ground!"

I turned to the door with a groan. Was this just my luck or what? Three guys stood just inside the bank's doors, all dressed in black from head to toe, all carrying Glocks. How clichéd was that?

"Oh shit. Oh fuck," I heard Lester mutter from beside me.

"I said everybody down!" The tallest guy yelled.

Lester grabbed my arm and put us both on the floor.

The tall guy moved over to the teller, pointed his gun right at her head, and started demanding that all the money be put in the bag. Stupid unimaginative bank robbers.

"Do something," I muttered to Les.

He looked at me like I'd grown another head. "What the fuck do you want me to do? There are three of them. I pull a gun on one and the other two start shooting."

Damnit, he was right. Too bad that security guard over by the doors looked like he was about a hundred and ready to expire. And my own gun was still at home in my cookie jar…

"You got another gun?" I whispered.

"Yes," he admitted, "but I am not giving it to you."

"Why not?" I'm pretty sure I was whining, but really, I wasn't that bad a shot.

"First of all, you have very little training. This is one of those get-'em-with-the-first-shot-or-civilians-die scenarios. Second, that still leaves a guy uncovered."

"The security guard…"

"Is about ready to pass out."

Or pass on, one or the other.

Lester was shaking his head. "No. We bunker down and try to be invisible until the negotiators get here, just like everyone else. You got me?"

I rolled my eyes and turned away from him, looking for the positions of the robbers. The tall guy was still with the teller, the smallest guy was across the room with his gun on some hostages, the fat guy was peeking out the window.

And there beside him, tucked under the sill, was Edwin Mortars.

I grabbed Lester's arm so hard that he winced and muttered, "ow".

"Shhh," I said, then nodded at the window.

"Nice fucking way to get taken out by a sniper," Les chuckled.

"No. Look lower."

"Oh, fuck," he whispered. "Oh shit. Oh crap. Ranger's gonna have my balls in a sling."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes again.

"He seen you?" Les asked.

"I don't know." Mortars was looking away from us, towards the tall guy with the teller. "I don't think so."

We were silent for several moments. I was watching Mortars, Lester was probably cataloguing everyone's positions and body masses and the trajectory of bullets and …

A gun went off and pretty much everyone screamed.

Lester pushed me behind him and I saw his hand move to the gun tucked into the waistband of his cargos.

I peeked around his arm and saw the small guy in the corner with his gun aimed at the ceiling. There was plaster dust everywhere; on the ground, on his clothes, in his hair. It would have been comical had I not been so scared I was about to pee myself.

"Cell phones, PDAs, any other fucking communication device you got, here, pile, now!" He shouted, pointing to a spot near the center of the floor.

Cell phones slid across the marble in a rush. A twenty-something year old girl with blonde hair was sobbing. Probably she was the offending party; tried to make a call or something.

I looked wistfully down at my own phone for a moment. Batman was just two buttons away. I slid it into the pile with everyone else's.

I saw Les's thumb move to the end key on his phone before he sent it to join mine.

"What…"

"Rangeman," he whispered. "Shh."

Sneaky, sneaky. I hadn't even noticed him reach for his phone. This meant that Ranger was likely out there already, pissed as hell, I was sure. And a pissed Ranger was a deadly Ranger. These stupid bank robbers had a big, scary, gun-toting surprise coming their way.


A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who's still reading and reviewing! Don't forget to let me know what you thought.

Again, sorry for the long wait. My Plum muse left me for awhile and demanded my attention on a couple of Bones fics that I've got in the works. I'll probably be posting one of them soon, so if you like Bones, check it out!