I saw "One for the Money" at midnight when it came out and I loved it. Clearly, movies can't always stay right in line with the books and a few details were changed. I have always been a Katherine Heigl fan and this movie makes me love her even more. The only one who threw me off a bit was Ranger, I just didn't click with the actor. Overall, it's worth seeing and on my "buy later" list.

"Te Amo"

Chapter 15

Pov- Julie

I was awake and dressed, by the time Ranger and Steph stopped back at the hospital the next morning. A nurse had chased me out of Shilo's bed bright and early. I'd borrowed the hospitals shower, changed into some clean clothes, and after a quick breakfast in the cafeteria I was feeling much more human. Now, I was back in the rocking chair, where I'd been sitting for the last hour, watching Shilo's face while she slept.

Steph was the first through the door, but she was followed shortly by my favorite set of little brothers. I knew the boy's had been staying with Stephanie's parents while we were all busy. I bet they were excited to get out.

"Julie!" The both said cheerfully as they raced over to my side for morning hugs it had been too long since I'd been able to hang out with them.

I pulled Miguel into my lap and planted a kiss in his shaggy dark hair. "Morning boys."

"Morning Jewels." Anthony said and he held a muffin out to me. "Ella made your favorite this morning, I saved you one, cuz I'm your favorite."

"No you're not," Miguel said quickly, looking up at me for confirmation. "Is he?"

"I don't have a favorite." I reassured them. "I love you both very much."

I took the muffin from Anthony and set it down on the table near Shilo's bed. Ella's cinnamon muffins were one of the greatest things on this world and I noticed Steph had a whole bag of them with her. Probably she was going to pass them out to everyone who'd been injured in last night's take-down. "Thanks little Bro."

"How's she doing?" Stephanie asked, nodding towards Shilo.

Miguel snitched a bite of my muffin so I flicked him in the nose. I'd already eaten, but I'd save it for Shilo if she felt up to it when she woke up. I was guessing it had been a couple of days since her last good meal. "She'll be ok. The doctor was in here earlier to look her over. She hasn't woken up yet." I glanced up at Ranger over Miguel's lap. "You hear about Col. Lowry?" I asked.

He nodded. "Bobby called us last night."

"He wants Shilo to be the one who calls his son's."

"She is his adopted daughter." He said. "She should be the one to speak with them. Although, if she doesn't wake soon I'll probably have to call his eldest boy, Robert. I've meet him a couple of times before. They'll need to start making plans for the body."

"Have you been over to see Ryan yet?" Steph asked.

I nodded. "He was up earlier. His condition is not nearly as bad as Shilo's. Doc said he should be able to leave later today as long as he continues to progress. Bobby wants to move them both back to RangeMan for awhile so he can watch over them there."

There was a soft knock on the doorframe and Detective Morelli let himself in. There was a white bandage wrapped around his upper left arm where he'd been hit, but he was wearing a smile. Behind him was a tall man with white-blond hair and bright blue eyes that I didn't know. He looked very familiar though.

Steph gave them both a quick hug and waved them inside.

"Julie this is Connor Molony." She explained.

I shook hands with Connor and we exchanged smiles as he took the empty seat on the opposite side of them bed. I knew from Stephanie's stories that she and Hector had found Connor on the scene after Shilo and I had been kidnapped. I'd never meet him for myself.

"It's a pleasure." He said. "I'm very grateful for all of the work you've done to help bring Ryan home safe." He turned a smirk towards Shilo and added. "It's just too weird to think that after all of these years they're going to reconnect."

I smiled to myself thinking that it was going to get even weirder when I told them about Peter.

"It's like something out of a movie." Steph agreed.

"Have you seen Ryan yet?" I asked him, "He's in the room next door."

Connor nodded. "That's where your Detective Morelli found me. He was asleep though when I got here. The rest of the guys are chomping at the bit to come and see him, but I wanted to make sure he was feeling up for visitors first."

"You mean the rest of your band mates?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep, I wasn't allowed to call them and tell them what was going on when both Ryan and myself disappeared. They've been worried."

"They called the police station last night and tried to file a missing person's on them both." Joe said. "All I could tell them was that Connor was being held in protective custody by RangeMan and that Ryan's whereabouts were unknown."

"I talked to them this morning." Connor continued. "I left out most of the personal details though. Ryan should be the one to tell them if he wants too."

"They don't have to hide anymore." Joe said confidently. "Unless they have more enemies we don't know about. John O'Donnell is dead and both of his brother's are behind bars, where they'll be staying for a good long while. We were able to get both Michael and Flynn for the guns. We found connections to link most of the Lynch's to the New York gun ring. All in all we've pulled a lot of criminals off the street."

"What about Gavin?" I asked. "He's not such a bad guy."

Joe nodded. "No, I don't think he is either. However, the evidence puts him in line with the gun ring as well as being a witness to murdering and kidnapping. Though his personal actions are not as harsh as some of the others he will get several years."

Shilo stirred for a moment and when she opened her eyes, I wasted no time in setting Miguel down and moving to her side. I leaned a hip against the edge of the bed and picked up her hand. I squeezed her fingers gently to let her know I was still here.

"Good morning." I said when she looked over at me.

She blinked at me a few times, shaking off the last of the drug induced fog. When her eyes were clearer she smiled warmly up at me.

"I love you." She said.

I had a big stupid grin on my face when I caught the confused looks from both Connor and Joe. I didn't care anymore if they knew. I was coming out and as soon as I was able to take her back home, I was going to make sure that every man at RangeMan knew she was off limits.

I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, pulling back before we gave our audience a show. "Te Amo Shilo." I told her. "I love you too. You have some visitors."

She glanced around the room letting her eyes stop on Connor. "Hey you."

He grinned. "Hey yourself, how you feeling?"

"I've been better."

Steph stood up and took Anthony's hand. "Miguel, come on." She said. "Why don't we go find Uncle Bobby and make him eat something?"

"We can give him a muffin too," Anthony chimed in as they headed for the door.

Steph left with the boy's and Shilo narrowed her eyes at me. "She did that on purpose, didn't she?" She asked confidently. "What happened? Is Ryan ok?"

I nodded. "He's fine," I reassured her quickly. "He's asleep in the next room over, Doc say's he can leave tonight."

"Detective, why don't you and Mr. Malony also step out for a moment." Ranger suggested. "We have a lot to catch Shilo up on. She probably won't feel up to answering any of your questions until tomorrow anyway."

Joe nodded. "No rush, this case has pretty much solved itself." He said. "Just have Ranger give me a call when you feel up to talking, alright?" He added, looking at Shilo.

She nodded and promised she'd contact him no later then tomorrow. She'd have to give statements and details on the kidnapping. I was hoping that her and Ryan's testimonies would put both remaining O'Donnell brother's behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Once the room was empty except for Ranger and myself Shilo turned her eyes back to me and I saw a sadness in them that made me think she'd already guessed what we had to tell her.

"It's the Col. isn't it?" She said. "Bobby said he'd been hurt pretty badly."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry Shilo. He had a seizure during his operation. He passed away very early this morning."

She was quiet for a long time and I wiped a couple of tears from her cheeks when they fell. "Has anyone called Robert?" She asked. "Or the other boys? They need to know."

Ranger shook his head. "Not yet, we thought you might want to be the one to speak with them since you grew up with them. If any of them would like to come here the RangeMan jet will be at your disposal."

She nodded. "Thank you. I do want to call them myself."

Ranger pulled her phone out of his pocket and set it on her bedside table. "Take all the time you need." He said. "I'm going to see how quickly we can get you moved over to RangeMan. If you're interested, Bobby can watch over you there so you don't have to stay here."

"I don't think Bobby likes me too much right now." She said sort of sadly. She glanced over at me and returned the light squeeze on my fingers. "He's very protective of you."

"I am his favorite niece." I agreed. I had a feeling that the other guys would forgive Shilo fast enough after everything she'd done to protect me. Bobby would probably take the longest.

"Bobby's a top rate medic." Ranger said. "He'll do his job regardless of his personal feelings. It will take time for everyone to forgive and forget. Don't let it stress you out while you're recovering."

She nodded and offered him a small smile. "Thank you, I would like that if he's willing. I'm not a big fan of hospitals."

Ranger left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Shilo moved over and I accepted the quiet invitation to join her back on the bed. We lay together for a long while in comfortable silence while she thought. I kept my arms around her and held her close, reveling in the knowledge that I had her back safe and sound. I brushed the occasional tear from her cheeks and placed at least a dozen soft kisses in her hair.

"I never got the chance to talk to him." She said softly. "The last time I saw him, I yelled at him. I said some really awful things."

"He wasn't mad at you for that." I told her. "You had every right to be upset."

"He probably though I hated him." She shot back. "I know he was only looking out for me. I shouldn't have yelled at him. I lost my temper."

I kept a hold of her hand, rubbing soothing circles on her skin with my thumb as I told her about my conversation with the Col. right before he'd passed on. I told her that he'd loved her, that he'd only ever meant the best for her. I told her about the conversation I'd had with the Col. yesterday, about how the Col and Shilo's mom had always planned on moving her and her brother's to the states.

For now, I kept the part about Peter to myself. I wanted to speak with both Shilo and Ryan together and I was thinking it would be a conversation best left for after this mess was over.

"I can't believe he's known this whole time." She said. "I didn't think he'd accept my choice, and I was sure he'd never understand it."

I smiled. "He said he thought I would be perfect for you. I think he loved you enough not to care about your life style."

She was quiet, thinking, to herself before she spoke again. "I should call them." She said, looking at her phone.

I nodded and handed it over to her. Putting it off would only make it worse. "Do you want me to leave?" I asked, trying to respect her privacy. "I could wait in the hall."

Her grip on my hand tightened and she pressed farther into my side. "Please don't." She said. "Will you sit here with me?"

I nodded, "Of course."

Pov- Shilo

I took a deep breath and flipped my phone close. I'd started with Robert and that conversation had been the easiest. Robert had been a medic with the army for several years before he retired from the field to train in new medics. He accepted death as part of life in the same way that Bobby did. I'd always admired Robert for it. He'd also said he'd make sure to contact the necessary military contacts to inform them of the Col.'s passing.

Thomas was next in line, by age, and currently deployed overseas. I had no way to get a hold of him, but Robert had said he'd put in some calls to see if he could be reached.

Scott was third and the most unpleasant. All of the Col's sons knew about my past and how I'd come to join their family. They'd all welcomed me and loved me like a little sister, but I'd never gotten along well with Scotty. He'd been pleasant enough on the phone, though obviously upset at the news of his father's passing. Underneath though, the tone of his voice made me feel as though he blamed me. I couldn't really call him out on it either. I might not have pulled the trigger, but he'd been hurt protecting me.

Jimmy was fourth and the most upset over the phone. Jimmy was very close to his father and the news that he'd passed so suddenly caught him off guard. I'd spoken with him briefly and he'd agreed that since he was the closest he'd go to the Col's house and make arrangements for it and the Col.'s dog to be taken care of until the boy's could go over everything.

"Just one more." Julie said gently.

I nodded along and leaned back so I could kiss her jaw. "This is going to be the worst one, though." I told her. "Out of all of the boy's I'm closest to Adam."

"Why is that?" She asked. "You've never really spoken about them before."

I shrugged. "Adam and I just always got along. We are the same age, almost down to the day. We had some of the same interests too. We used to get into a lot of trouble together. The Col. Always used to say that it was my bad influence that kept Adam from joining the military like his other boys all did. Really Adam's just a pacifist with a love of food."

She smiled. "I can't wait to meet him."

I sighed and flipped the phone open hitting the button for speed dial one. He answered almost immediately with an audible growl. "Do you have any idea how early it is Shy?"

His voice was gruff with sleep. I'd forgotten that even though it was morning here in Jersey it was the middle of the night over in L.A. Julie chuckled at my side, clearly she'd heard his complaint.

"I'm sorry to wake you." I said gently. "It's important."

He groaned and I could just imagine him rolling onto his back and rubbing a hand over the two-day beard he always wore. "It's not like you to forget the time difference." He said. "What's up?"

Adam listened quietly while I gave him the story of what had been going on the last week. I went into more detail then I had with the others, feeling confident enough in my relationship with Adam to mention the beatings and the cell.

Julie's hold on me tightened and I knew I'd have to have this conversation one more time with her when we could get some time alone. I'd probably try to wait until we were back at Haywood. I desperately wanted to know her side as well.

"That's unbelievable." He said when I got to the part about Ryan.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's kind of thrown me for a loop too. It never even crossed my mind that he would hide him from me."

We talked for a long time afterwards about the Col. Adam was sure he could get time off at the restaurant to come over. He said he'd fly in himself and that I should send the RangeMan plane for Robert and Scott. They lived near each other so they would be able to fly in together that way.

"How are you doing?" Adam asked, after I'd fallen silent.

I smiled warmly at the phone. This was why I'd really saved Adam for last. It wasn't just because I'd called them in age order, Adam was the only one who would think to asked me how I was doing. More than any of the others, he was my brother, and I knew that he loved me. "I'll live." I told him honestly. "I've got some friends here who are taking good care of me."

He chuckled, "You made some friends?" He said sarcastically. "They must be pretty special to have caught your interest."

"They are." I agreed. "I've got a hot girlfriend now too."

Julie beamed at me and pressed another kiss to the side of my head. I hadn't asked her directly yet, but I took her reaction to mean that she liked the title.

"Oh really," Adam said and I could feel him slipping into gossip mode. Adam prided himself on being able to get people to talk. He says it's because he's lovable. I think it's because he's nosy as hell. "What's her name?" He asked casually.

I chuckled as Julie's lips worked their way down my jaw line and bit my lip to keep from moaning when she nipped at my skin. "It's Julie." I felt her smile against my neck and knew she was teasing me on purpose.

"Will I get to met this Julie?" He asked.

"Yes," I promised. "As soon as you get here. She wants to meet you too."

We finished our conversation shortly and I made sure he had all of the information for RangeMan so he could find us once he got here. Ranger would probably send a car to pick him up anyway. As soon as I had the phone shut, Julie rolled over on top of me and pressed her lips to mine. She had her arms braced next to my head and her keens near my hips so she wouldn't put any weight on my ribs.

There was lots of kissing, nipping, and some roaming hands. Julie pulled back after a moment and met my heated gaze. "Was that an offer?" She asked breathlessly.

"Would you have me if it was?" I asked. "I tend to cause a lot of problems. I might not be the world's best girlfriend."

She smiled. "Bring it on." Then she kissed me again. Julie's lips were on my neck and I had one hand down the back of her pants when someone knocked on the door. With a groan, she pulled back, and called "Come in."

I kept my hands to myself as Julie lay on her side next to me. One of her long legs tossed casually over mine. She had her head resting in one hand while the other traced light trails up and down my arm. It was a comfortable intimate pose and I was glad for the confidence in her smile when she welcomed Razor and Blaze in. This was the first time I'd ever seen them out of uniform, with both of them being dressed in jeans and comfortable t-shirts.

"Hey guys," She said.

"Morning ladies." Razor greeted.

"It's one-thirty." Blaze said. "He means good afternoon."

Razor rolled his eyes and sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. "No, I woke up forty-five minutes ago, I meant good morning." He looked over our seating arrangement and smiled at us. "You two an official thing now?" He asked, motioning between us.

Julie nodded, answering for us. "Yep, so back off."

Razor cursed under his breath and Blaze did a little victory fist pump with his good arm. "I knew it!" He pointed a stiff finger at Blaze. "Pay up!"

"You guys bet on this?" I asked.

Razor nodded. "It was obvious the moment you two laid eyes on each other there was some heat there." He continued. "My little brother came out of the closet when he was nine, so I've got a touch of Gaydar. Blaze, thought I was losing my mind."

Blaze handed over a sizable chunk of cash and then batted his eyes at Julie. "So this is why you never responded to any of my flirting Tiger?" He said playfully. "I was afraid I was losing my touch."

Julie chuckled. "Sorry Blaze, I love you, but you're not my type."

"You win some you lose some." He agreed.

We chatted easily for almost an hour before the Doctor came in to check on my progress. He kicked Blaze and Razor out, only letting Julie stay when I demanded it. He agreed as long as she moved back to the rocking chair and stayed out of the way.

He checked over my eye, my pulled knee, my sprained wrist, and half a dozen cuts and bruises around my body he thought deserved more attention. So far, he said everything looked good. My eye was the worst, but he said it looked like the swelling had gone down even since last night. I sighed when he told me he wanted another round of x-ray, mostly because Julie wouldn't be able to come with us downstairs.

She stayed near my side and offered to check on Ryan for me while I was gone so she could give me an update.

"I'll be here when you get back." She promised.

"See you soon."

Pov- Julie

I watched while they rolled her away and then let myself wonder into Ryan's room. Ryan was up and awake looking a million times better than he had last night. There were two stitched in his lip to go along with the dark bruise on his chin and I knew under the clothes his leg had been wrapped and cleaned where he'd been shot.

Morelli and Connor were both sitting with him and I was guessing from the legal looking notebook and the tape recorder in his lap that Joe had recently finished taking Ryan's statement on the kidnapping.

Ryan smiled when I came in and offered his hand to me. "It's nice to finally get a chance to meet you." He said warmly. "Shilo certainly talks enough about you."

I felt my cheeks warm up and shook his hand. "Like-wise she's told me many a story about you."

"All good I hope."

I nodded. "Mostly."

He laughed. "How is she doing?" He asked.

"She's doing better, the doctors are all positive. Her ribs are the worst and it will take some time before they all heal. She's down getting more x-rays done right now."

He frowned. "It was that Amos that hurt her." He said darkly. "I just got done talking with Detective Morelli. He was the one who worked her over. He seemed to be the one in charge of dealing out punishment for the older O'Donnell's."

"He was the one who cut her neck in the alley too." I added looking over at Joe. "I recognized him once I was able to get a good look at his face."

Joe nodded. "I'll have to look over the names again, but if he was in the garage, I'm sure we caught him."

Ryan scowled again. "I want him tarred and feathered."

"He's dead." I said easily. I hadn't given my official statement yet, but Joe sat and listened while I told my side of the garage story. I'd seen Amos grab Shilo when the gunfight started. It was that moment I recognized him as the man who'd brought her to see me in the O'Donnell's home.

I'd given chase and caught up to them. I mentioned Gavin showing up and the shot Amos had fired at me. I left out the bit about Gavin's sister, simply stating that it looked like they had some kind of family dispute. I wasn't sure if Gavin's sister had been brought in or not, but I didn't feel like it was my place to get her in trouble. She'd have enough problems to deal with right now anyway.

"Gavin was the one who shot him." I finished. "Would have liked to do it myself, but he saved her life. Mine too probably. There's not a doubt in my head that Amos would have killed us both."

Ryan made circular motions with his finger near his temple. "The dude was off his rocker."

Joe and I walked around the hospital floor, giving Ryan and Connor a chance to talk and call his other friends. After a while, we wound up in a secluded waiting room and I offered to give him my statement now. I wanted to get it out of the way.

He listened quietly while I spoke, asking questions when he wanted more details or jotting down notes he thought were important. His tape recorder was out on the table between us and I did my best to remember every detail. I started with the fire in Ryan's house and spoke about the kidnapping. When I was finished speaking I realized how little I had to contribute. Except for the one time they'd brought Shilo into see me, I'd never seen or had contact with the O'Donnell's while I'd been held captive by them.

When I was done, I shrugged my shoulders and sat back. "That was it."

"Your contributions to this case saved both of their lives." Morelli said, mirroring my relaxed pose by leaning back. "No way we would have found them before it was to late."

I shrugged, "Just doing my job."

He smirked as if I'd said something funny, but I didn't question him. I was too distracted by the small clear bag he'd pulled out of his pocket. I recognized the evidence bag. The top was sealed with a yellow sticker and info on the day it had been collected was written on the front in black marker.

"You spoke with an officer Herrera at the scene." He said, pushing the bag across the table towards me. "I believe you wanted to be the one who gave this back to her?"

"You're finished with it already?"

He nodded. "We checked the blood, but it all came back as Shilo's. We don't need it for anything now."

I picked up the small bag and turned it over in my hands, looking at the pendant inside. Shilo's family crest was still covered in dried blood, but after the week we'd just had I'd never forget what it looked like.

"Yeah, it's really important to her. Thank you."

"You might want to wash it off first." He suggested. "As it is, the blood might have permanently damaged the silver."

I nodded, I'd clean it before I gave it to her, but if it needed to be restored that would have to be her call.

I signed off that everything on the recorder was truth and shook Joe's hand as he walked out. I sat alone then for a while knowing that someone would come find me when Shilo was returned to her room. I jumped when someone knocked on the door frame and smiled as Razor and Blaze came in to join me.

"Deep thoughts?" Blaze asked, sitting down in the seat next to mine.

I shrugged. "Just thinking about what's going to happen now."

"Do you know if Shilo's going back to New York?" Razor asked.

It hurt to think about her leaving, but I kept my face blank. "We haven't had the chance to talk about it yet."

"What are you gunna do if she does?" Blaze asked. "Long distance can be hard on relationships and you guys haven't had the easiest road to begin with."

"I don't know." I admitted and for the first time let myself really think about it. I knew that I didn't want her to leave. I was positive I loved her. It was also unfair of me to forget that she had a life back in New York. She had friends, she had a home, and she would be missed. Would I be willing to leave with her if that's what she wanted?

"There's still time." Blaze said, patting my arm. "Bobby got the ok to move Ryan tonight, but Shilo's got to stay at least another night. Then she's gunna be recovering for awhile so you two will have lots of time to talk it all out."

"Among other things." Razor added suggestively wagging his eyebrows.

I tossed the water bottle Blaze was holding at him. "My sex life is none of your business."

"I was just kidding." He defended.

"That's hot." Blaze said and I could tell from the look on his face that was picturing Shilo and I in bed.

I hit him too. "Stop thinking about my girlfriend."

"Sorry Chika." He said unashamed. "She's smoking hot, and so are you. That fantasy's not going anywhere. "

I groaned. "You two are the worst."

"You love us." Razor said confidently.

"I'm your favorite." Blaze added, kissing my temple.

I smiled and let their teasing go because it was true. I loved them like brothers and teased them just as bad on an average day. Out of all of the men at RangeMan I'd always gotten along the best with Blaze and Razor. They were both 22, which made them the youngest Merry Men, and they had both started working for Ranger only a few months ahead of myself. We were the new kids.

"What's that?" Blaze asked, taking the bag Joe had left from my lap so he could look at it.

"It's Shilo's necklace."

Razor whistled and held out a hand so he could see it too. "The one she lost in the alley? That things got some miles on it."

"I'm impressed they found it." Razor added.

I smirked, thinking Shilo might have been right about her 'luck of the Irish' thing. "Lucky"

"You going to give it back to her?" Blaze asked.

I nodded. "Yep, Morelli left it for me after I gave my statement. They don't need it anymore and I know she really wants it back."

A nurse came in to let us know that Shilo was being brought back to her room and I excused myself to go and find her, stopping at the sink in the lounge room just long enough to scrub down Shilo's necklace. Not all of the blood would come off, seeing as I didn't have a brush to get between the small holes in the chain, but it looked better than it had before.

"Were heading out anyway." Blaze said giving me a hug.

"Yeah, gotta get back to the grind now that this mess is winding down." Blaze said. "Regular shifts are being posted tonight to get the guys all back on track. I think Tank's giving me the morning shift."

"I'm not going to miss the twenty-four hours days."

I waved as they headed off and then hurried down the hall to Shilo's room. As I reached for the door it opened on its own pulling back to let Ranger out.

He smiled gently at me as he stepped out and said. "She's expecting you."

I felt my heart jump. How long had she been in her room before the nurse had come to get me? Had she and Ranger just had their 'talk' without me? What would he have said to her? I hoped he hadn't yelled at her or placed all of the blame for this mess on her. It wasn't her fault.

I recomposed my face and hurried to her side. She looked tired, but there was a smile on her face when she looked at me.

"There you are." She said.

"I told you I'd still be here."

"You don't have to stay with me." She said.

I gave her my best 'yeah right' look and dared her to send me away. If she was staying another night, so was I.

She moved over so I could sit next to her and I wasted no time in grabbing her hand. Funny how I hadn't noticed how anxious I'd been to get back to her until she was here for me to hold. She leaned into my side and I could tell she was getting tired.

"You've had a long day."

She nodded. "That obvious I'm exhausted?"

"The bags under your eye's look like bruises."

She smiled. "They might be, I'm sore all over the place."

"The doc's find anything new?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope, just what they saw last night. I have four cracked ribs, but none of them are broken. I have to spend at least another night here."

I kissed her temple and wondered how to bring up Ranger. Might as well just go for the throat.

"My Dad wasn't too hard on you was he?" I asked. "I saw him leave."

She smiled at me and just said. "He loves you."

"Yeah, but he can be a real hard ass at times. If he gave you a hard time about all of this I'll kick his ass for you, I swear."

"He didn't give me a hard time." She promised. "Just lots to think about."

"Like what?" He better not have tried to scare her away.

She shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Right now I'm about an inch from dead."

"I brought you something." I told her, rolling onto my side so I'd have a good look at her face. I could tell she was struggling to stay awake, but I'd gotten her attention.

"You didn't have to get my anything." She said quickly.

I rolled my eyes and pulled the silver chain from my pocket. I held it up so the pendant would be at eye level and gave her a chance to see it. "We found it." I told her gently. "I thought you would want this back."

She raised a hand and let it close around the pendant rubbing her thumb over the crest etched there. "Thank you." She said and I saw the emotion in her eye's, even if she didn't let the tears fall. "I never thought I'd see it again."

I helped her get the chain over her frizzy hair and laughed when she complained about the amount of time it was going to take once she'd been release for her to tame it again.

"It looks amazing." I told her honestly. "You always look beautiful."

She signed and pressed into my side, one hand on her chest, absentmindedly rubbing at her necklace. I watched her face until her breathing deepened and her face relaxed as she fell asleep.

"Good night Shilo."

~Darkrose

R&R

Sorry, for the little cliffy with Ranger and Shilo's talk I'll get to that probably in the next chapter. I'm super excited to work on it.

Question 12~ Steph/Ranger or Steph/Joe? I'm curious to know if my story is appealing to more Babe's or Cupcakes.