Author's Note: Thank you guys for your continued reviews and alerts. I've so enjoyed writing this story. It's been a lot more fun than I thought it would be. But it's not over yet! Not for awhile either! Hee Hee! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters you recognize are NOT mine and I am NOT making any money.

Chapter Nine
Bite In The Butt

"Good morning, Teresa. Harley around?" Steph asked as she entered the gym. She grinned as she looked around. This was becoming one of her all-time favorite places. That thought made her giggle. The Merry Men back home wouldn't believe a gym was her favorite place. Hell, she barely believed it.

Teresa gave her a flirty smile. "He's around here somewhere. You know I'm totally better than him, right?" She teased. Steph quickly learned that Teresa was a lesbian and she was proud of that. And she sort of had a crush on Steph. Steph loved her and thought the world of her.

Steph gave her a smile. "Oh I completely agree, Teresa, but I'm just not ready for a serious or any other kind of relationship right now."

A kind of sad look passed over Teresa's face before she reached out and patted her cheek like an elderly grandmother would. And Teresa was younger than Steph by several years. "We all have skeletons in our closets, demons in our attics, and sadness in our hearts, but you're strong and you'll be okay."

"Thanks Teresa, you're a sweetheart."

Teresa winked at her. "And don't you forget it."

"Telling more lies, Terri?"

Steph turned to greet Harley as Teresa growled.

"You know I hate it when you call me that." Teresa replied.

Harley flashed her an evil grin. "That's exactly why I do it."

Teresa rolled her eyes and answered the gym's phone. Harley then turned his attention on Steph. "Anything out of the ordinary? All okay?" He asked seriously.

Steph shrugged. "The eyes are still there, but they're getting closer."

Harley's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

"My spidey sense has been wiggin'."

A look of confusion crossed his features. "Spidey sense? Wiggin'?"

Steph giggled. "My spidey sense is just this feeling I get when something is going on and wiggin' is the only way I know how to describe it right now."

Harley nodded. "Makes sense I guess." He motioned towards the mat. "You ready for a work-out this morning?" He asked.

Steph nodded. "Only if we can go get waffles once we're finished." She bargained.

Harley barely hid a grin. "Waffles, huh?"

"Yep." Steph said, popping the 'p'. "With lots of butter and plenty of syrup."

This time Harley licked his lips. "Sounds damn good, Sweetheart. Let's get started so we can go get those waffles."

Steph laughed, but they both quickly got down to work. Only a few days had passed since she told Harley about the eyes watching her and together they reported it to the local police. They asked if anyone was mad at her or wanted to harm her. Steph had to hold back the laugh that threatened to break free and it was hard too. But she told them no, she didn't believe so. She told them a little about what she used to do when she lived in Trenton, but she had talk to Tank, Lula, and Connie and they assured her that nothing was going on in Trenton. No one strange was asking about her or creeping around her family or her old apartment or even the bonds office. The cops told her there was nothing they could do, but they did tell her to keep her eyes open and her guard up. No problem there.

Whoever was following her was taking pleasure in it. They were taking pleasure in scaring her and that pissed her the fuck off. She wasn't going to ignore it. No, she couldn't do anything about it, but she knew they were there and she was constantly aware of her surroundings. Harley was making sure Steph could protect herself and Steph was happy with herself and what she has accomplished since arriving in St. Louis, Missouri. She could take Harley down in several seconds no matter what direction he came at her. She took pride in that.

An hour later they were finished with their work-out and on their way to the best place in town to get a huge Belgian waffle. And since it wasn't far from the gym, they walked. Half way there was spent in silence, enjoying the cool breeze and the hot sun. But when Steph rubbed the back of her neck for the third time, Harley had to ask.

"Is your neck hurting?"

Steph glanced at him in surprise. "No. Why?"

"Because you keep rubbing like it's hurting or something."

Steph almost stopped walking, she was so damned shock. She hadn't realized she was doing it and now that she did, she felt almost giddy at the thought of why. Her neck only tingled like it was when Ranger was around, but he was dead. Right? And besides whoever was following her wasn't happy to see her. They wanted to hurt her. She could feel that. It couldn't be Ranger unless he went under a drastic personality change. That and he was alive. She really couldn't comprehend Tank and her Merry Men lying to her about something that big.

"No, it isn't hurting or anything. Just thinking, I guess." She told Harley.

He didn't look as if he believed her, but they arrived at the restaurant so Harley didn't say another word. They ate their waffles with a side of bacon. Harley had double bacon and Steph couldn't resist teasing him.

"Laugh it up, Sweetheart. Paybacks are a bitch with someone twice your size."

Steph laughed. "Oooo, I'm shaking in my sneakers. Don't forget, Teach, I can take you down now."

Harley shoved a bite of waffle in his mouth, but his smile was wide. "You've come a long way the past few weeks, Steph."

Steph nodded, a huge smile on her face. "I have, I know. I'm happy with the changes too. Oh and I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away, Sweetheart."

"I need a computer and I was going to go to Best Buy today. Wanna come with me and help me pick one out?"

"Would love to. What's it for?"

Steph licked her lips. "I went to the University of St. Louis yesterday and signed up for on-line classes."

If it was possible, Harley's smile grew. "Steph, that's awesome. What classes?"

"Just the basic ones that I need and my first course towards my degree as a social worker."

Harley tweaked her nose, making her crunch it. "So proud of you, Steph."

Steph frowned and her heart clenched. She hadn't heard that in so long. It hurt like hell that it wasn't Ranger speaking those three little words. The tears were there, threatening to spill but after two and a half months of crying, she was able to keep them back. But her face full of hurt didn't go unnoticed by Harley.

"Ranger?" He questioned, easily guessing why she was in pain.

Steph nodded. "He was the only one that every believed in me. He had faith that I could do my job."

"He was a smart man, Steph."

Steph shook her head. "Was he?"

Harley looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Harley, I was an idiot."

"What? You are not."

"I'm not anymore because I've been working out and taking self-defense classes. But damn, I just totally realized that I was completely stupid. I had no right to be a bounty hunter. I could have gotten myself killed or even worse, I could have gotten my friends killed. All along the guys have been trying to tell me and I refused to listen. And now that I'm finally being smart, Ranger isn't here to see it."

Harley reached out, taking her hand in his. "I bet he knows, Steph. I bet he sees how smart you've become and how wonderful you've always been."

She gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Harley. Once again I'm whining and feeling sorry for myself."

Harley shook his head, almost in disappointment. "Steph, you lost someone you love. You have the right to be whining and selfish," he gave her a half smile full of orneriness. "At least for the first six months. After that, I have every right to throw you off a bridge."

Steph laughed. "You always make me laugh."

His fingers caressed her cheek. "I try."

Steph sighed. If only, she thought.

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"I had no idea they made personalized computers." Steph exclaimed loudly as they entered her hotel room.

"They're more expensive, but definitely worth it." Harley replied.

Steph pulled her new laptop out of the box and grinned. "I think I won't mind doing homework all that much on my new computer." Steph admired the yellow and black print. It was so totally perfect.

"But I do have one question."

She turned her attention away from her laptop to look at Harley. "What's that?"

He nodded towards the computer. "Why Batman?"

Steph smiled. A big smile that took Harley back. He had never seen her smile like that before. Damn, she was beautiful, he couldn't help but think. Too bad.

"Ranger was my Batman. I often teased him about being Batman."

Harley couldn't help but grin. "He wear a cape?"

Harley watched as Steph rubbed the back of her neck. She'd been doing that a lot today.

Steph stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes. "Noooo… but he mostly wore black. Black camo pants, black t-shirts, black jeans, black Armani, black silk boxers –"

Harley laughed as he interrupted. "I don't want to hear about his underwear choices, Sweetheart."

Steph giggled. "Oh he only wore those to bed when I was… well, feeling like a good girl. Most of the time he went commando."

Harley covered his ears and started singing. "I can't hear you! I can't hear this!"

Steph pushed him and Harley caught off guard, fell backwards on the bed. His face made Steph laugh as he was shocked as shit that she got the better of him off the mats.

"You're such a baby." Steph teased.

He did an impression of the Burg eye roll. "I am not." He protested. "I just don't want to hear about another man's preferences on the state of underwear or no underwear."

Steph giggled again and went on to explain about Ranger and his Batman likeness. "He's got a long line of mysterious black vehicles and he drives a black Porsche Cayenne. And well he's always been mysterious. He would always go in the wind and I never knew where he went. And he would come back and all…" Steph frowned. "He was enigma. He was Batman."

Harley stood up and gave her a hug. He hated seeing her sad. So he made her smile. "Well, I'm definitely no Batman, but I can be Hulk." He gave her his best growl as he flexed his biceps. Steph laughed and punched his shoulder. He picked her up easily and tossed her on the bed. She pretended to be mad, making Harley laugh.

"Come on, Plum." He motioned for her to come get him. "Take your best shot."

Steph narrowed her eyes in a playful manner and launched herself at him. He braced himself for her weight but she still managed to knock him back a few feet. He put her back on her feet and waited to see what her next move was. She waited for the perfect moment, taking a kick shot at his head. While he was busy dodging that kick, using one long leg she knocked his legs out from under him. He went down hard. He was after all, a six foot six, two hundred and fifty pound man.

"Holy shit, Sweetheart." He totally sounded dazed.

Steph leaned over him to meet his eyes. "You okay, Teach – er?" She grinned.

He moaned and sat up, moving to lean against the wall of her hotel room. "Alright, you totally win. You just knocked the wind out of me, Steph."

Steph sat down on the edge of bed and continued to grin at him. "The student has surpassed the teacher. Ha ha!"

Harley nodded. "I totally agree." He shook his head. "When do you start school?"

Steph's grin widened. "Changing the subject, huh?" She tsked. "I start Monday."

"You excited?"

Steph nodded. "I'm so ready. I can't wait."

"You're going to be busy little bee between volunteering, working at the hotel, school, and working out. Where are you going to find time for me?" He pouted.

Steph giggled, rolling her eyes. "I'll see you when working out."

He nodded. "That is true." He frowned as he looked around. "You know if you want, I have a guest room you could stay in. I know staying at a hotel has to be getting old." He offered.

Steph shook her head. "Since I work here, I get a huge discount and I don't really mind it. I got everything I need."

His eyes searched hers as she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, again. "The offer comes with no strings, Sweetheart. I know you're not interested and I completely respect that."

Steph smiled as she stood up to give Harley a hug. "Thanks. I'll think about it."

He tweaked her nose and she pinched his arm. "Ouch! That hurt, you meanie." He feigned.

Steph laughed as she headed towards the bathroom. "Let's go do something." She called out from the bathroom as she shut the door behind her.

Harley didn't move. "Like what?" He called back.

"I don't know. You live here, you pick something." Steph replied as she brushed her teeth. All she could taste was thick syrup and it was wreaking havoc on her taste buds.

"Um… your phone is ringing." Harley replied, his thoughts interrupted.

"Can you please answer it?"

Once he located it in the bottom of her pocket book, he glanced at the screen. The name on the phone was Tank and Harley had a bad feeling, but he answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Who is this?" The man he believed was Tank hissed angrily.

"Name's Harley. And you are?"

"What in the fuck are you doing with Stephanie's phone?" He barked.

"She asked me to answer it, man. Chill out." Harley responded.

"I want to talk to her. Now!"

Before Harley could respond, Steph came out of the bathroom. "Who was it, Harley?" She asked.

He handed her the phone. "Tank."

Steph smiled as she put the phone to her ear. "Hey Tank!"

"Who is he, Steph?" Tank immediately demanded.

Steph was taken back by the hostilely in Tank's voice. "He's a friend." She answered slowly.

"A friend? Are you sure he's… safe? What's his name? I'll run a full background check, Little Girl. You can't be too careful." He said in a rush.

Steph licked her lips, ignoring Harley for the moment. "He's been my friend since I've arrived in St. Louis, Tank. I'm not giving you his name so you can check him out. I trust him with my life."

"Steph, are you sure about this guy?" He asked again, his tone implying he was backing down.

Steph sighed. She had mentioned Harley to Tank on several occasions and his reaction had never been this. "I'm very sure, Tank. He makes me laugh. He's been helping me through a lot. Leave it alone."

She heard something but it sounded muffled before Tank came back over the phone.

"Yeah, okay. Is everything else okay? Anything out of the norm going on?"

Steph shook her head. "Everything is fine. How about there? RangeMan?"

"Everything is great, Steph." Now he sounded like the Tank she once knew.

"Good. I'll talk to ya later."

"Have fun."

He hung up before she could reply. She finally faced Harley, slipping her phone in her pocket. "That was really weird."

"How was it weird?" Harley questioned.

Steph shrugged. "It just was. There was something in his voice that sounded almost relieved."

"Relieved? About what?"

Another shrug. "Once he got over you answering the phone and all, but I don't know. That's the only word I can think of to use. He sounded totally and completely relieved."

"You'll find out eventually."

"Yeah, you're right." She gave him a smile.

"Come on, let's go ice skating."

Steph looked horrified. "Ice staking?" She gulped.

Harley laughed as he tugged her out the door.

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Steph let the warm water soothe her sore body. The sweet scent of lavender invaded her senses and made her smile. Harley had taken her to an indoor ice skating ring where they spent hours knocking each other on their asses. Okay, well she knocked him on his ass repeatedly because she couldn't seem to stay off of hers for long. He was a natural on ice skates while she was clumsy as hell. So she figured it fair that she knocked Harley down at least once an hour to make up for it. He was a great sport about it.

For dinner, they pigged out on nachos, burgers and beer. Then they ordered the 'house' banana split and it was huge. Steph was glad they only ordered one because there was no way she could have eaten one of those bad boys by herself. When the ring finally closed, Steph dropped Harley off at his place before coming back to her hotel room. She fed Rex a carrot, some cheerios and a few hamster pellets while her bath filled with soapy scented bubbles.

She stayed in the bubbles until she started to become chilly. She dried off quickly then pulled on a pair of Ranger's black silk boxers and black t-shirt. She had a wonderful evening with Harley, but she needed some time with Ranger and this was the only way to get it. She wished she felt something more than friendship for Harley. He was such a great guy. He was sweet as hell, he loved animals and he loved food just as she did. But her body wasn't in it. She didn't feel a thing for Harley. Which totally sucked.

She was too tired to call anybody. Hell, she was too tired to even turn on the television. She snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She woke up disoriented. She blinked several times to focus, but the room was too dark. She felt off. Something wasn't right. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was sending her spidey senses into sensory overload. She started to get up, to reach for her gun, but before she could move, she felt something cold against her arm, a jolt, and blackness took over.

When she woke again, she had a splitting headache and she was tied to something. She wiggled. Yep, she was tied to a chair. Fuckin' A! All that flipping self-defense and some asshole took her down in the middle of the night with a mother fudging stun gun. What a bite in the ass that was. Whoever it was had better hope she never got free of these ropes because when she did, she was going to take his ass down. And hard.

"Wake up. I know you're awake." The male voice was familiar and Steph's eyes flew open.

The man in front of her grinned. "Good. I'm glad you're awake."

Steph didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think either.

"Dale!"