I drove to the Rangeman office building on Haywood. It was a seven story building on a quiet, non-descript street. It had been my troublesome curiosity that had brought me to this building in the first place. Ranger, being Ranger, had loaned me his truck before he went out of town and before he knew that I had fallen in bad with a gang called the Comstock Slayers. I had been living with Morelli and loaning my apartment to my sister and her two kids at the time and somehow I got myself too angry at Joe to continue sharing a house with him. Since I'm allergic to kids (and my sister) as much as I love them, I was planning on sleeping in the truck. I mean, I couldn't exactly drag myself to my parents' house when I had a $10,000 hit on my head, now could I?

Instead, I discovered the GPS was on and I tracked the truck back to Haywood. I used the key fob and lived in Ranger's apartment on the seventh floor in secret for a week before Ranger came home and discovered me sleeping in his bed and in his shirt. Naturally, I didn't realize that the whole building, besides the apartments, had cameras and everyone knew I was there the whole week. Gotta love security guys.

I had originally thought that this was the Batcave. When I asked Ranger, he had laughed at that and told me that the Batcave was forever. Heavy implications there, huh? He actually threw a secret ball for me last Halloween and introduced me to the Batcave. It was so secret that I was the only person at the ball that knew who owned the mansion or who the host was. As everything about Ranger, it didn't disappoint. It was a beautiful, mysterious mansion that would take a year to fully explore.

The control room was on the fifth floor, along with the offices. I walked through main area, talking to the guys I knew and waving to the ones I recognized. Ranger's door was open. I tapped and walked in and sat down in front of him.

"Joe and Mia have to work this out." I flopped back exhausted and he sent me a mega watt grin.

"From what I've heard, she's not talking to Joe at work."

"Well, I don't see him outside with a boom box on his head wooing her back."

"There's only one John Cusack, babe." I blinked at him. He actually got my silly Say Anything joke. Hmm…

"Whoever is at fault and being frigid, I still have to get Mia out of the apartment. I love her and all, but she's killing me."

Ranger seemed to be willing to leave it up to me to fix my ex's love life. Fair enough.

"You know anything about this?" I asked and set the paper on the desk in front of him.

"I've heard of Crislon. The CEO is a shark, babe."

"Think it could be connected?"

"Anything's possible." He turned to his computer and started typing. I moved to sit on the desk beside him. He was doing a full background search on Crislon and the CEO, a one Jack Elliot.

"How about you bring the results back tonight and I'll fill you in on Andy's many projects? I have a stack to go through." He just nodded and focused on his reading.

"Hey," I tilted his head back with my first two fingers. "Don't work too hard." I kissed him and left the office, knowing that he was grinning at his computer now.

* * * * * * * *

I debated the intelligence of my next move all the way to the police station. I parked in front, quickly shut off the car and jumped out before I thought about what an idiot I was being.

Vice was in the back of the station and Joe's desk was close to the back of the room. Lucky for me and unlucky for him, he was sitting at his desk, working on some paperwork. I drew up beside his desk and he raised his eyes slowly.

"Hey, cupcake." He pulled on a half grin and leaned back in his chair.

"Yo, Joe, we need to talk." He sighed and fell forward.

"What's on your mind?"

I looked around. It felt too public for me. "Let's get out of here."

"How about Pino's?" Trust me, it is an Italian thing. Pino's was an addiction.

"Sounds good. I'll drive."

Since it was only about eleven, Pino's was pretty empty. We found a booth in the back and sat down facing each other. We ordered subs and I searched how I was feeling. I was surprised that I felt no regret sitting across from him. No feelings of what if. He felt like an old friend, not an old flame. I didn't feel any sparks and I could tell from how he was sitting there, that he certainly wasn't thinking about jumping my bones. It was the end of an age, I guess. Sad, but sometimes the change is better than the original.

"You need to talk to Mia, Joe."

"Steph, stay out of it."

"She's staying at my apartment."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I know. I heard. She doing okay?"

"Mia's a fighter, Joe. She's not mopping if that's what you're asking."

"How about Dawn?" He looked up, truly interested.

"She's doing okay. She has this thing about not wanting to go to school and she misses you, but she's fine."

He smiled slightly, looking down. "That missing school thing is kinda my fault. She overheard me telling Mia that I hadn't gone to college. You know, I went Navy and all. She's been on a kick ever sense that she doesn't have to either. I think school's tough for her."

"She's so smart."

"Too smart, I think. She's bored, but there might be more to it than that. I picked her up from school last week and one of my Cousin Jody's boys was picking on her. Maybe she's getting bullied, Steph."

"I'll talk to her."

"Thanks." He swallowed a lump. "The house feels so empty without them, you know? Bob is moping. He kinda became Dawn's sidekick." He smiled and shook his head. "Those two, they got in a lot of trouble together." Our subs came and we sat quietly for a few minutes, eating and thinking.

"You're an ass, Joe."

"I know."

"Do you? Don't you dare blame Mia for moving out. There's only so much abuse one person can take."

"There wasn't anything I could do, Steph. She overreacted with Grandma Bella."

"Oh, grow a pair, Joe! You didn't help me out with her and you're letting her drive Mia away too. Worse, you're letting her attack Dawn."

"She's just an old lady, cupcake."

"She's vicious and you let her hurt the girls you obviously love. Who do you think is probably starting that bullying for Dawn? She's a bitch, Joe. I know you love her, but if you care about Mia and Dawn at all, you'll help them."

"They're my family, Stephanie." He glared across at me.

"You asked Mia to be your family. Does that only count when the Morelli's approve?" I spoke softly, but there was an edge to my words. He sagged a little and nodded.

"Alright, I'll talk to Mia."

"Good."

"I need them back, Steph."

"Then, you better be there for them."

A/N: I'm borrowing from Janet and you all know it. Let's move on...

In case you didn't pick up on that, kicking Joe Morelli's butt wasn't necessarily physical. Thanks!