Yes, the question at the bottom of the chapter was for you, the readers. Thought it would be fun to play 20 questions, I'll answer them all too. I have two tattoos. One is a star on my back, the other is a musical note on my wrist. Dotted 16th note to be specific.

Big hug to my reviewers. Read and enjoy, drop me a comment.

"Te Amo"

Chapter 4

Pov- Shilo

The day was inching by…

During the morning meeting Ranger had told us that RangeMan had turned over the guard we'd caught at Wild Horse to the TPD. So far he'd said nothing to them, ha. Other than that, we were still sitting in the same spot. We'd had a few sightings of the older O'Donnell's but, with no warrant to catch them, there was nothing we could do to them but secretly follow them around and pray they would lead us to Michael.

Julie and I had been sitting in my cubical for almost four hours going over crests and they were all starting to run together. I pushed my chair back and closed my eyes, rubbing at my temples. "I need to take a break." I said.

I heard Julie lean back in her chair and sigh. "Me too," She agreed. "After the thirtieth page, these things all start to look alike."

I nodded.

"Can I see yours?" Julie asked.

I glanced at her. "You saw it yesterday, remember?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean your necklace, you always wear it." She said nodding at my chest. "I saw the chain in the gym this morning, but you had it tucked into your bra. Can I see it?"

I nodded, pulling the thin silver chain out from under my shirt. The chain was long, so I pulled it over my head easily and passed it to her, the small pedant glinted in the light.

She laid the medallion in the palm of her hand and ran her thumb over it. The pendant had belonged to my grandfather. My mother had only given it to me a few nights before the fire, I was so excited about it that I'd still been wearing it that night when I went to bed. That was the only reason it had survived. I had only taken it off a handful of times since.

She didn't say anything, but passed it back, watching while I slid it over my head and tucked it away. She glanced at the computer screen again and groaned.

"I vote we just go down to TPD and kick the shit out of that guy until he tells us his name."

"There might be a law against that." I said grinning.

She chuckled. "Alright, let's get some lunch and we can try again afterwards. We don't have surveillance tonight so we have lots of time today."

"Yippy." Eye roll.

She stood up and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Come on."

I stood up and followed her, stopping when she turned towards the elevator, instead of towards the staff room. "You going to eat in your room?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope, we're going out. I don't know about you, but I need to stretch my legs out. Come on." She waved over her shoulder that I should follow. So I did.

I followed Julie down the stairs, into the garage, and slid into the passenger side of one of the large RangeMen SUV's. Julie pulled out of the lot and turned easily onto the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

She smirked at me. "Is that your next question?" She asked.

Ohhh, that was why we left the office, She wanted to play some more. I stayed quiet while she drove; trying to decide which of my many questions, I wanted to ask next. Fifteen minutes later we pulled into a small lot in front of a tiny 'ma and pa' place called, Jimmy's Diner.

I followed her inside and she greeted the owner like an old friend. We were quickly given a booth in the back corner and I hesitated when Julie took the back seat. I would have preferred to sit with my back to the wall so I could see the entrance.

I shook off the feeling and slid into the booth across from her. She leaned back in her seat and ignored her menu. Her leg touched mine and she didn't pull it away, keeping the small connection between us under the table.

When the waitress arrive, Julie ordered two lemonades for us, promising me that this was the best lemonade in the city. I grinned. "Lemonade is my favorite."

She smiled. "Mine too."

I looked over the menu waiting for something to catch my interest. After a moment, I shut it and pushed it away, giving up. "I'm allergic to mushrooms." I told her. "Order me something yummy."

She grinned and when the server came back she ordered me a chicken salad sandwich, trading out the fries for seasoned rice. She got herself a pulled pork wrap, with steamed veggies. They both sounded good.

"Alright," She started "Question three. Did you really get in trouble for setting a shed on fire when you were a teenager?"

I smirked. "Yeah, one of my many flamboyant indiscretions as a child. One of our neighbors called the cops. At the time we were living at a large property near a military base and they saw all of the smoke. In my defense, I cleared the area beforehand and wetted the land around the shed to contain the fire. When the police showed up with the fire trucks I was found perched on a log with a long metal skewer roasting marshmallows."

She laughed. "Oh my god, I thought Ranger was kidding about that part."

I shook my head. "Nope, all true. I love s'mores. However, it is a good thing the fire truck showed up. The shed was old and we didn't use it anymore. It had some old furniture in it, a couple of tree's worth of firewood, we'd cut down the year before as well as an old car. I was too young to think about the fact that car's and fire might not work out so well. In the end the car blew and the shed came down, but there was no extended damage."

The waitress dropped off our food and we ate in silence for a few moments each savoring the wonderful meal. This stuff had nothing on Ella's food, but it was great. "Was that your worse juvenile charge?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. I have a couple of small arson charges; the shed was the worst of those. However, I got in more trouble for the other's since they were on other people's properties. I have some fighting charges, a little vandalism, and a couple of petty theft charges. I really wasn't a bad kid, but I acted out a lot."

"Family rebel?" She guessed.

I shook my head. "Loss of identity. Trying to deal with a change of family and country at a young age was very stressful. I didn't really know who I was at the time or how to find myself again."

"Did you ever talk to someone about it?" She asked.

I grinned. "You mean like a shrink, yeah. Col. Lowry had me talk to some youth councilors and after a bad fighting charge. When I was sixteen I had to see a psychologist in order to avoid juvie. I'm not crazy and I never had to look at ink blots."

"I didn't think you were crazy." She said. "Everyone act's out as a kid."

"I bet you didn't send a kid to the hospital when you were in the seventh grade." I challenged the memory still fresh in my mind from the fight this morning. Little punk had deserved it.

She raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"Broke the little brats nose for picking on me." I sipped at my lemonade. "That's why I don't like to be called Red."

She nodded. "I get that. I got picked on a lot in grade school too. We lived in a really nice, white, community. Not a lot of Latino's. I wasn't always picked on because of my race, but the difference in appearance did make me an easy target."

We worked our way though our food some more and, when it seemed she wasn't going to ask more about my juvenile record, I asked my next question. "Question two, along the same line as yours. I already know that you've broken the whole drinking underage thing. You don't have a record, I looked at your file. What's the worst trouble you've been in? Any wild collage parties with drugs? That one night on the beach when you woke up confused and naked?"

She grinned. "No drugs, I've never even tried cigarettes, never will. I drink, but as I've said before, only in controlled moderation, so I've never woken up without knowledge of the night before. I did get caught stealing candy, from the store, when I was like seven though."

"Ooooo," I teased. "Aren't you a bad girl?"

She grinned. "Then there was the night I lost my virginity at a party I snuck out of the house to attend when I was only seventeen."

My turn to raise an eyebrow, "The plot thickens. Man or woman?"

"Man," She said lowering her voice. "I considered myself bi from about 15 to 18 it wasn't until then that I figured out my preference was really just for women. He was twenty at the time."

I choked on my drink. She'd only been a minor. "That's illegal."

"And I've never told a soul about it until today," She said sternly. "So you'll keep your mouth shut unless you want to incur my wrath."

"At least tell me it wasn't rape before I agree to not hunt him down and kill him."

She nodded. "It wasn't rape. He was my best friend's older brother. I'd known him for years. I was young and naive about things like love and sex though, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. He led me on a bit, but he didn't hurt me. I never told anyone because I knew my mom and Ranger wouldn't agree. It was earlier then I was probably ready for, but it was consented."

I nodded. "My lips are sealed." That didn't mean I wouldn't break his jaw if I ever meet him. I was mad he'd taken advantage of Julie, and jealous at the same time.

"Do your parents still think you're a virgin?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, my mom knows I've had sex, but she thinks I lost my virginity after my high school graduation with another one of my friends. Ranger knows I'm not a virgin, but we've never had 'the talk' I think he almost prefers not to know when it comes to my sex life. As long as he doesn't think I'm being hurt in any way he has no right to say anything. He and Steph still go at it like newlyweds."

I scrunched my nose at the visual. "Not an image I needed of my new boss."

"Sorry I-" She paused, her eyes locked on something over my shoulder. "No freaking way." She said slowly, disbelief clear in her eyes.

I moved to look over my shoulder and she kicked me under the table. "Don't look."

"What is it?" I asked, lowering my voice instinctively.

Julie had her phone out and hit a speed dial. "Ranger, Shilo and I have eyes on Michael." She said. I didn't know what she was talking about, I had eye's on no one and my nerves were screaming to turn around and drop into a fighting stance. I bit my lip and kept still.

"Yes," She said quickly. "No."

She looked at me and mouthed "you packing?"

I nodded. I had my Smith and Weston nestled against my lower back and four knives hidden under my clothes. We did not however have Kevlar or extra ammo if this turned into another shoot out.

"Yes, the Diner." Julie said again into her phone. "Gotcha, He's moving now. We'll keep eyes on him from a distance."

She hung up and tossed a couple of twenties on the table. "Follow me."

We stopped in the entryway to the dinner and she peeking around the corner. "He's walking away, just one other man with him."

I took a turn to peek. Michael O'Donnell was walking away from us dressed casual, in jeans and a brown leather jacket. It was warm out, only one reason to wear a jacket and it was the same reason both Julie and I had coats on.

We casually walked to our car, keeping our eye's on the pair as they walked down the sidewalk. Julie pulled another gun from under the front seat and tucked it in her boot. She passed me some cuffs and an ammo case which I stuck in my pockets. She tucked a stun gun into her back pocket and pulled out a Kevlar vest.

"Put it on, fast." She said, taking over watch for me.

I hesitated. "Where's yours?"

"I'll get it next, hurry up."

I slipped the Kevlar on then pulled my RangeMan shirt back over my head and my jacket. I took over watching while Julie striped off her jacket and shirt. Someone behind us whistled and I gave them the bird, when I looked back Michael was gone…Shit.

"He turned." I said

Julie quickly pulled on her shirt and jacket and we took off at a quick walk down the sidewalk. "Where did he go?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Didn't see, I'm sorry, I looked away."

We were moving slowly, watching for O'Donnell to come out of a shop or step out of an ally and jump us. We got to the last place I'd seen O'Donnell and looked around, there was an antique shop and a women's clothing store with an ally down the middle.

"Three guesses, where he turned." Julie said sarcastically.

I nodded, stepping forward to take point and pulled out my gun. Julie stayed a step behind, gun in hand, watching my back and the street. We crept down the alley and stopped at the corner. I didn't hear anything on the other side, just car's on the street and the general hum of the city. I peeked my head around the corner and a white van hit the gas.

The van took the corner sharp, hitting its breaks and a large man jumped out of the back, gun drawn. Julie got off a shot at him, before another one leapt out of the driver's seat and charged her, but the shot missed, ringing off the side of the van.

The first man had come at me. I knocked him in the jaw with the butt of my gun, but his return hit had disarmed me. My gun slid away across the ground and I fell into a fighter's crouch. He aimed at me, but was slow to pull the trigger. I kicked out, catching him in the wrist. His shot went wild and his gun went flying.

He jumped at me and we fell to the ground in a tangle of flying fists and feet. I yanked the knife from my boot and slashed at his arm. Blood caught me in the chest and he pulled back with a yelp. He came back, his hands at my throat. He kneed me in the gut and shoved me backwards, pinning me against the wall and effectively knocking the breath from my lungs. I dropped my large knife, scrambling to pull one of my smaller throwing knives from my belt.

I got the small, black, blade free and stabbed towards his face. He yelped again and his hands left my throat. My neck was burning and I was seeing tinny black spots. A few yards away I heard Julie cry out. The man she'd been fighting, had pulled back and drawn another gun, he aimed at me and I didn't have the breath to move out of the way.

Julie dropped to her knees and three shots were fired. I was still trying to catch my breath, but I didn't feel any bullets rip into my flesh, so I figured I hadn't been hit. My vision swayed and when I rubbed at my throat, my hand came away slick with red blood. Maybe I'd spoken to soon. The van squealed as it took off, leaving an inch of rubber behind along with a sick acidic smell. I wobbled on my hands and knees, momentarily losing my sense of direction. I was lightheaded and suddenly lunch didn't seem to agree with me as my stomach pitched.

"Julie! Shilo!"

I glanced up at my name. There were two Black SUV's parked near the entrance of the alleyway and Ranger was running towards us, gun drawn. Behind him I counted Tank, Steph, Hector, Blaze, Hal and a few other people, but my attention wavered. I'd caught sight of Julie, a couple of yards from me. She was slumped on the ground with her back to the building next to us and she hadn't looked up when Ranger called our names. I saw the blood in her hair and threw up.

Hal hooked me under the armpits and pulled me away from the mess I'd made before he grabbed my shoulders and steadied me. "Shilo, can you hear me?"

I nodded and my vision darkened. "dizzy." I said.

"Hold on."

He pulled off his shirt and I heard him say 'neck wound.' My ears were ringing and I jumped when Hal pressed his shirt to my neck. It was starting to throb and sting and I could feel my own blood running down my front, soaking into my shirt.

In the distance, I heard sirens and saw pulsing blue and red lights. Hal made to pick me up, but the sudden move left me nauseous. I pulled away from him in time to throw up again, without getting it on anyone. My vision darkened and this time it took longer to clear up. Hal had helped me sit down again. "Julie?" I asked, my voice shaky.

He's grip on my neck tightened as a couple of paramedics came over and I was slowly shifted sideways onto a stretcher. "She's alive." He said and my vision blackened again. The rushing in my head grew louder. The last thing I remember hearing was the sound of the ocean pounding in my ears, and we were miles from it.

Pov- Julie

I winced and my dad looked up from the paper work he was doing? "Do you want me to get you more pain meds?" He asked again.

I shook my head. "I'm fine." I was a nervous wreck. Shilo had been carted away forty-five minutes ago and we hadn't heard anything on her condition yet. She'd blackout at the crime scene and they'd hooked her up to oxygen. The wound in her neck had been long and needed stitches. I was just mad I hadn't been able to shoot the bastard faster and keep her save.

When the man I'd been fighting turned his gun on Shilo, I'd acted out of instincts. I'd dropped to my knees and pulled the gun from my ankle holster. He'd gotten one shot of towards Shilo, then I'd hit him, and his last shot had caught me in the vest. I'd hit my head against the building, when the bullet knocked me back and passed out.

I now had three neat little stitches and a raging headache. My chest hurt where the bullet had hit me, over my right breast, and the welt was bruising. The police had already taken my account of the fight in the alley and were working with some of Dad's men to clean up the alley. The man I'd shot had died, my bullet had pierced his lung. I felt sick to my stomach. I'd never killed a man before.

"Niña?"

I glanced up and Ranger gave me a knowing look. Damn ESP. In the past I'd thought Stephanie might have been exaggerating about how Ranger always seemed to know what everyone was thinking. After living around him for nearly a year now, I was realizing it was true. You couldn't hide anything from Ranger. He really was like Batman.

"I'm fine." I repeated.

Ranger came over to the bed I was sitting in. We were waiting for the results of my scan to make sure I didn't have a concussion. Hal and Blaze had been waiting with us, but they'd both conveniently left the room. I bet Ranger sent them out when I wasn't looking.

He waited for me to look at him and when I did, I saw the pain in his face I was trying to keep buried away. "I'm sorry." He said sadly.

"For what?" I asked. This wasn't his fault.

"You killed that man today." He said slowly. "That is something you will have to carry for the rest of your life."

I nodded, coming from him it sounded less dramatic. I'd killed that man in self-defense to protect Shilo and myself. Inside, I wanted to throw up and take a shower two degrees short of boiling. Outside, I was glad to just be alive.

"I was protecting Shilo." I said, my voice sounded weak and tiered. "It was self-defense."

He sighed. "I never wanted you to have to carry that weight." He admitted.

"It's part of the job." I said. "I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up. All of the time you make me spend in the gun range wasn't just for show. I knew that."

He nodded. "I never should have let you join RangeMan. I've almost lost you twice now in as many days. It tears me up to know I've put my little girl in danger."

"But, I'm doing so well." I countered, getting mad at him for not believing in me. "I'm learning fast, I'm not a little kid anymore. I've passed every test you and the guys have thrown at me. I can do this, I know I can, you can't pull me from the team."

"Why do you want to do this?" He asked. "There's so much darkness in this job, Niña." He kissed the top of my head. "And you are so full of life."

I smirked. "I guess I really am your daughter. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree in our case. I like working at RangeMan, Daddy, and I like helping people and knowing that I'm helping to take bad people off the streets." I said trying to make my voice sound braver. "I knew what the job entitled when I took it. I'm freaking out right now, I'll get better at controlling that, but I'll be fine. I did what I had to do."

He shook his head and looked me in the eye. "Never shut down your emotions Julie." He said. "The guys and I, we learned to do that for survival in the army, but it's not something you can unlearn once it's there. Emotions are hard; it takes a stronger person to deal with them. I see Steph do it every time she attracts some disaster and I admire her more and more each time." He admitted a soft smile on his lips. "She might think her tears make her weak, but in reality it takes more courage to face your fears then it does to bury them away. You have that same strength."

I was shocked. That had to be one of the longest speeches I'd ever heard Ranger make. Then I burst into tears. Ranger held onto me, letting me ride out the shock, whispering gentle things in Spanish into my ear. I sobbed for nearly ten minutes before I was able to pull myself back together. My eyes were red and puffy and I was so tired. However, the pressure in my head felt like it had gone down and I wasn't as nauseous.

Ranger passed me a tissue and kissed the top of my head again, careful to avoid my stitches. "I'm proud of you Julie." He said. "You reacted on instincts and saved both of your lives today. You trusted your training and it paid off. I don't like putting you in danger and I've purposely held off on giving you field work. I also know that you can do this, that's why I push you so hard, and I'm sorry that I haven't shown more confidence in you."

"I love you Papi."

"I love you too." He said.

I smiled, loving the complement and this moment of connection. Then I jumped when someone tapped on the door and the moment was ruined. Uncle Lester poked his head into the room. "Sorry," He said with a gentle smile in our direction. "Doc's here, wants to see you Boss. He's got word on Starburst."

"Starburst?" I asked.

He shrugged "I'm trying out nick-names for Shilo. You like that one?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Try again." It was awful. That had to be the worst one I'd heard yet.

Ranger nodded. "Go ahead and send him in, we can all hear this." He looked over at me. "You feeling alright?"

I nodded as the doctor came in along with Lester and Blaze. "Fine, I'm just tiered."

The doctor stopped at my bed and asked the same question. I told him I was fine and almost begged for news on Shilo.

"Your Miss Lowry will be just fine." He said, turning to Ranger. "The wound on her neck was not deep, neck wounds always bleed a lot. She has ten stitches and I've already spoken with your company medic Bobby. He can take them out once the wound will hold itself closed." He glanced at his chart. "She's out right now, we are giving her blood to make up for what she lost, but you can take her home with you in a few hours.

He nodded. "Thank you for taking care of my team."

"I should have shot him faster." I mumbled under my breath again. The room went quiet and it was clear I'd spoken louder then I meant too.

"Sorry," I said softly, mostly looking at the doctor who didn't know how the shooting had taken place. "Just wish I could have kept him from shooting her."

The doctor raised an eyebrow and looked down at his sheet again. "Miss Lowry was not treated for a gunshot wound." He said confused. "The laceration in her neck was caused by something much thinner and duller then a bullet and there was no trace burn around the mark as there would have been from a hot bullet."

"Like what?" Ranger asked, his voice and face dropping into businessman mode.

The Doctor looked back over at Ranger. "Without further tests we can't be sure, but I'd guess either an old serrated blade or a piece of wire, maybe a thin string of rope that her attacker tried to wrap around her neck. The skin was badly torn on one end of the wound."

"The chain." I said slowly.

"What?" Ranger asked looking over at me.

I looked to the doctor. "Did you remove any jewelry from Shilo when you examined her?"

He shook his head. "No, just a couple of knives and a cell phone."

"She was wearing a necklace." I told him. "A thin silver chain around her neck. O'Donnell's man must have torn it off when they were fighting and cut her."

The doctor nodded. "A chain could have easily caused the damage Miss Lowry sustained, if it was ripped off with enough force. She's just lucky it didn't cut into any major arteries."

"Can we see her?" I asked.

The doctor nodded. "She's two doors down on the right. However it would be best if you refrain from walking too much until we have the results of your scan." He looked at Ranger. "There is a wheelchair in the closet she can use. Call a nurse if you start to feel lightheaded." He added looking at me.

I nodded and promised I would and we remained quiet until the doctor left the room.

"Why was she wearing a necklace?" Ranger asked. "No jewelry in the field. There's a reason we have that rule."

"We weren't in the field," I reminded him. "We went to lunch."

"She should have taken it off."

I nodded to appease him, but something told me that Shilo would never take that necklace off without it being life or death. I looked over at Lester. "Les can you call Tank, see if he can find it at the scene. It's really important to her, I'd hate for her to lose it."

He nodded. "I'll call, but if it's there it will have been collected as evidence for the case."

"That's ok, as long as she gets it back when this is over."

Ranger put a hand on my shoulder to stop me from standing and shook his head. "You heard the doctor, wheelchair."

I frowned at him. "I can walk."

"Not until were sure your alright."

Blaze stepped up and held out his arms to me. "I can carry you down the hall Julie." He offered. "It will be faster anyway."

I glanced up at Ranger and he nodded. Blaze picked me up and I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying not to pout like a child. My legs were just fine.

Blaze set me down in a chair near Shilo's bed and I bit my lip to keep from crying again. She was asleep, hooked up to a blood transfusion and an IV and some crazy heart monitor next to the bed was beeping. Someone had cleaned all of the blood away and she looked a lot better than the mess they'd rolled in here.

On the right side of her neck was a long, angry looking wound pined together with tiny stitches. No doubt it would leave a scar behind.

"She doesn't look to bad." Blaze commented. "She'll be back to kicking Lester's butt in no time."

I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but I still wish I'd been able to help more. I'd promised to have her back.

There was another soft knock on the door and Stephanie and Razor walked in. Steph moved to Ranger's side and he wrapped an arm around her waist, Blaze moved so Razor could take the seat next to me.

"How is she?" He asked.

I nodded. "She'll live; she just lost a lot of blood from the neck wound."

We lounged in Shilo's room, no one wanted to leave. Throughout the next couple of hours more than a dozen different Merry Men stopped in to check on Shilo and myself. This was something I'd come to love about them. These big, scary men were a family. They cared about each other and watched each other's backs and it would seem that Bobby had been right. Like a thief in the night, Shilo had wormed her way into their hearts too.

Another doctor came in and cleared me to leave. I had a nice little bump, but there was no damage to my skull or cracks in my ribs. She wanted me to take it easy for a couple of days and ordered me to go to Bobby if I felt any pain or dizziness. I promised and everyone, who needed too, signed my release forms.

It was another half an hour before Shilo woke up. She opened her eyes and found my face. I smiled, scooting my chair closer to the head of her bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

She glanced down at her arm and saw the tubs there. "We're in the hospital." She said, turning her eye's to the heart monitor.

I nodded. "Yeah, you cut your neck and lost a lot of blood, but you're ok now."

She raised one hand carefully and touched the line of stitches on her neck. "Are you ok?" She asked, turning her eyes to me.

I nodded. "I'm fine. Are you in any pain?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine." She glanced over my head and spotted our audience. "Did we get him?" she asked.

Ranger moved to my side. "No, the van peeled away before we could block them in. It hasn't been found yet. Are you sure that you're ok?"

She nodded. "My neck hurts, but I'll be fine."

"I'll talk to the doctor about when you can leave." And he left the room.

Steph, Blaze and Razor all moved forward to say hi. She answered their questions, but it was clear she was still fuzzy from the medication they'd given her. I smiled every time her eye's moved back to my face.

"You'll have to give another statement to the TPD." Steph told her.

She frowned and I put my hand on hers to get her attention. "They can wait until tomorrow." I promised

Razor and Blaze took over then, chatting easily and keeping the mood light while Shilo worked her way out of the medicated fog. I helped her sit up and got her water to ease her dry throat. We were all chuckling from one of Razor's jokes when Ranger came in with the doctor.

They kept her under supervision for another hour and once again, Bobby got the details on her care. She had some pain pills and medication to help fight off infection and by the time her release papers had all been signed, she looked ready to drop dead.

Steph had brought a change of clothes for her and a nurse beat me to the punch by offering to help her change. I tried not to glare at her as she shut the bathroom door behind them. Shilo came out in black yoga pants and a loose black T-shirt.

She gave the doctor a dark look when he brought in the wheelchair and once again Blaze offered to carry her. Taking the lesser of two evils, like I had, Shilo wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carefully pick her up.

"Thanks." She said.

He smirked. "No problem, Ginger,"

"I'd offer, but the sling get's in the way." Razor said, moving to her side. "Do me a favor and stop trying to get yourself killed."

She chuckled and playfully hit Razor in the shoulder. "Tell Lester to take 'Ginger' off his list. He needs to get more creative."

"Awww," Blaze said. "Ginger was my idea."

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Try again."

Ranger led our little group down to the lobby and we found a pod of people in black waiting for us. The Merry Men were out in full force. Amongst them were Lester, Bobby, Hector and Hal. Everyone said hello to Shilo and said they were glad to see both of us up and moving around.

Blaze helped Shilo climb into the back of one of the black SUV's waiting for us and I slid into the seat next to her. Ranger and Steph took the front seats and we lead the parade of black car's back to RangeMan. Once again Razor offered to carry Shilo. She protested the need, but gave in and let him carry her inside. Once we were in the lobby, Ranger called us both to wait.

"You're both off the clock for the rest of today," He said. "and I only want you to take half shifts tomorrow, during which you can go down to TPD and give your statement Shilo."

We both agreed without argument. I for one had a slow throbbing in the back of my head and it was getting worse again. Bobby talked to us both, about checking in with him regularly and suggested we both go up stairs, watch a movie, and turn in early. He passed up both a set of pain pills and said he'd have Ella send diner to our rooms.

Shilo and I both rode the elevator in silence and when we got to the fourth floor she hesitated. "Um, would you help me change my shirt?" She asked almost shyly. "It pulls on my stitches if I raise my arm too high and I'm about five minutes from passing out."

I nodded, "of course. You want to watch a movie?" I asked. "We could lounge in my room. I've got a pretty good TV."

She nodded, "Sure, let me grab my things."

I wondered into my room, leaving the door open and started to strip off my gun, cell phone, wallet, watch and left everything in a pile on the counter. I kicked off my shoes and socks and snagged a pair of soft gray yoga pants and a red wife better. I was sitting on the end of the bed, brushing my hair while Shilo came in.

She'd dumped her pockets as well and padded into my room barefoot, shutting the door behind her. The bun on the back of her head was starting to fall down and I was betting she didn't have the energy to work out the braid.

"Come here." I patted the edge of the mattress and she sat down next to me. I twisted her around and started pulling pins from her hair. "You're going to have to show me how you did this." I said, impressed with how secure the bun still was after today activities. "The guys are always saying I should cut my hair so it would be out of my way in a fight, but if I could make a bun like this I wouldn't have too."

She nodded gently. "It's not too hard." She said. "I'll show you some time."

Once the pins were out the braid came loose and hung to the middle of her back. I pulled the tie out and started to finger comb her hair free. Once I had most of the braid done, I used my brush to gently work the knots out of her hair.

Once her hair hung in soft waves I moved my hands down to gently work the knots out of her shoulders. She groaned as I dug my fingers into her tight shoulders. "God, that feels good." She said, hanging her head so I had better access.

I smirked. "It would be easier if you lay down."

"Help me change first, if I lay down right now I won't ever get back up." She said. "Pain pills always make me sleepy."

I lifted up the back of her shirt and carefully pulled it up over her shoulders. Her back was bare, and I realized with a blush she wasn't wearing a bra. She must have heard my intake of breath because she turned her head to peek back at me.

"See something you like?" She asked, teasing.

"Maybe."

I finished pushing her shirt up and helped her get it over her head. She tossed it away onto my couch. "You're not wearing a bra." I stated the obvious.

She chuckled. "It was to big of a pain to deal with at the hospital." She explained. "There just boobs,"

I actually couldn't see her boobs from where I was sitting since she still had her back to me. I did however have a close up view of her back and the trail of stars there. I brushed her hair to the side and she shivered when I ran my finger down her spine.

"These are really beautiful." I told her. "How many are there?"

"37, not counting my wrist."

I continued to let the pads of my fingers run over her back, following the path of stars and enjoying the contrast of her light skin against the dark ink. The star in the center was my favorite. It was the largest of them all with ten points, filled with tinny knots that laced together like puzzle pieces.

"Those are Celtic knots." She explained, as I traced my finger over them. "That star took almost two hours, by itself."

"You weren't kidding about having a big family."

She shook her head, confirming my thoughts that theses stars were also meant for members of her family. "No, my mom had four sisters and my dad was the youngest of seven children. All of my aunts and uncles married and most had children of their own."

She let me explore her tattoo for a while longer and when she shivered, I helped her pull on a tube bra and made her lay on her stomach on the bed. I straddled her hips, and waited to see if she would say anything about the intimate position. She didn't, so I let my hands fall back to her shoulders, carful of her neck, and let my fingers work her muscles loose.

Slowly the knots left her shoulders. Every time I hit a sensitive area, she would groan or sigh and by the time I reached the bottom of her spine I was contemplating licking my way back up her tattoo and nipping at the back of her neck just to hear more of her teasing sounds. Along the edge of her yoga pants, one star was cut in half by the soft material and I wondered just how low they went.

Under the pretence of working my hands back up her back, I counted them. When I got to the smallest star at the base of her neck I had only counted 35, including the half one, which meant I was still missing two.

Once her back was free of tension and I had no more excuses for staying on top of her; I let myself fall to the side and leaned against the headboard next to her. She turned her head and grinned at me, her eyes hooded with sleep and contentment. "Thank you." She said her voice soft and sexy.

"No problem," I promised, folding my arms behind my head to keep myself from reaching out and touching her.

She moved over, so she was lined up next to me, her hip pressing into mine and laid her head down on my pillow. "I meant for saving my life." She said. "That man would have gunned me down if you hadn't been watching my back today."

I shrugged. "Now were even." She'd saved my life her first night here.

"No were not," She said sleepily. "I owe you a massage now."

I was already in a hot and bothered state and the image of her straddled over me with her soft fingers on my skin was almost enough to send me up in flames.

She was still for so long I thought she'd finally fallen asleep when she glanced over at me and raised herself up onto her forearms. The bra she was wearing did little to cover her bust. I wasn't sure if it was the cool air, or my presence affecting her, that had her nipples standing out. Either way, I had to work hard to keep myself from flipping her over and starting my massage all over on the front half of her sculpted body.

She grinned at me when I finally pulled my eyes up to her face and her bright green eyes sparked with heat. She licked her bottom lip and I had to bite down on mine to keep from moaning. "Question three," She started slowly, watching my face for some sign. "May I kiss you Julie?"

My hormones in overdrive and my panties already ruined I almost begged her to. I loved the sound of my name on her lips. Then I remembered my promise to Ranger and felt guilty. In the last two day I'd already gotten so close to Shilo, I couldn't seem to help myself. We had almost nothing in common and yet I felt like I'd known her for years. I trusted her to have my back and she'd trusted me today with her life.

"What's wrong?" She asked, pulling back a bit. "I'm sorry if I've pushed too fast."

I shook my head quickly, moving closer to her. I stopped when her face was only a few inches from mine. I didn't want her to pull away from me. The comfortable familiarity we already had with each other was amazing and I'd be crushed to lose it.

"No," I said keeping her eyes locked with mine. "You haven't pushed too fast. Trust me I want you too. Not ten minutes ago I was having naughty thoughts about licking those stars."

The corner of her mouth turned up and her eyes flashed again. She seemed to like the idea as much as I had. Maybe someday she'd let me play out that little fantasy.

"Then what's wrong?" She asked. "I hope you know you can talk to me."

I nodded. "I trust you," I told her honestly. "like I've never trusted anyone before. It's crazy how easy this feels with you after only a couple of days."

She nodded. "I trust you too."

"The only thing is I'm having some guilt problems."

She crooked a dark red eyebrow at me and lowered herself back to her stomach, pressing into my side to give me the courage to keep speaking. "You see," I started, finding it easier to speak when she wasn't looking right at me. "I sort of made a promise to Ranger, that I'd keep my relationship with you professional."

She turned her head and pressed her nose against my hip, where my shirt had scrunched up a little bit, leaving an inch of skin exposed on my side. "And you're telling me RangeMan policy has no problem with coworkers licking each other's tattoo's?" She asked sweetly.

My cheeks flamed and nearly jumped out of my skin when her lips touched my side. This woman had no idea what she did to me. When the tip of her tongue poked out and touched my overheated skin, I moaned. The sound was embarrassingly loud and I knew my eyes had darkened lustfully at the smirk on her face when she looked up at me. "I think it's too late to keep this professional." She said.

I nodded, trying to slow my racing heart as I sunk down onto the mattress next to her. "Doesn't change what I said to Ranger."

She pushed herself up onto her forearms again and pressed into me. Her full breasts pressed against my side, she brushed her lips softly along my jaw before whispering into my ear. "You'll just have to tell him it was my fault."

When her lips met mine I nearly combusted. The kiss started gentle and light, her lips were soft against mine and she smelt like lavender and some other floral scent I didn't have a name for. I pressed into her, deepening the kiss by sweeping my tongue along her bottom lip. She opened her mouth to me and her tongue touched mine. She moaned and I moved one of my hands into her hair. By the time we parted for air, she'd moved one of her legs between mine and one of her hands was on my hip under my clothes. My hand, that wasn't in her hair, had moved to her back and was trailing my nails slowly over those panty-wetting stars.

We were both breathing hard, our faces flushed, and her eyes had lightened to a shade of green closer to jade then her usual emerald. Her red hair had spilled around her shoulders and tickled my skin where it brushed against my shoulders and neck.

"Maybe I should go back to my room." She said after a moment.

I shook my head. "Please stay."

She leaned down and kissed me again. This kiss was less heated, and there was no tongue. When she pulled back we untangled ourselves and I pulled the covers over us. It was only seven and we haddn't eaten diner yet, but I was beat and with the adrenalin after our fiery make out wearing off, I was crashing fast. She laid down next to me.

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

I moved into her side and stuck my nose in her hair, taking a deep breath of her warm scent, trying to name the different components of it. "Only if you want too," I said. "I don't want to push you too fast."

"I'd love to stay."

I was silently grateful for the stress of the long day, which left us both to worn out to continue. I knew that I trusted Shilo and it was clear that my body wanted her bad, but I didn't know if I was ready to fall into bed with her yet. I'd ruined other friendships by taking that step to quickly and even if nothing romantic ever came of this I knew I'd be crushed to lose her friendship.

~Darkrose

Question 2- What is your favorite drink?