I was meeting Connie and Lula for lunch at Pino's but of course I was late. I had to take Mooner and Dougie in to be rebonded today. I knew there was a Scooby Doo marathon running this morning and thought I'd timed it just right but it turns out the last episode playing was actually a movie, Scooby Doo and Batman and it lasted a bit longer. I didn't mind really though, I mean when have I ever said no to Batman? Oh, that would be never. This morning wasn't any different. I'd texted the girls to let them know I was going to be late and to go ahead and order. Connie told me to hurry up because she had some gossip to share.

I pulled into the back lot 15 minutes late. Of course it being lunchtime the only parking spot I could find was next to the dumpster. For the millionth time I wished I had Ranger's parking karma. I scurried in the back door and headed past the kitchen entrance and bathrooms to the dining room. I could hear them talking before I saw them and what I heard stopped me dead in my tracks. I stilled in the hallway listening.

It was Connie's slightly nasal Italian voice, "Yeah, so apparently Batman and Catwoman are dating now."

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. Batman, my Batman was dating? He has a girlfriend? And it's that bitch Jeanne Ellen? Before I could remind myself that he's really not my Batman or Ranger or whatever, Lula broke in.

"What? Why he datin' her after all the shit she's pulled? I mean she's evil! You don't date the villain!" You tell her Lula. I mean I wouldn't go so far as to call Jeanne Ellen a villain, but she definitely only had her own interests in mind. I mean she stole my car. Well, she moved it and didn't give it back until Ranger told her to.

Connie added, "Yeah, but I guess she's reformed or something." Lula snorted and Connie continued, "I don't know how long it's gonna last. Apparently he's not going down on her."

I think I lost consciousness briefly. I mean if anything was worse than thinking about Jeanne Ellen and Ranger dating, it was the thought of them together. Like together-together.

Lula's voice cut into my mental fog, "WHAT!? What do you mean? He's not dining downtown? Not kissing her coochie? Not licking her labia? Not tasting her taco?" Her voice was rising, like she was shocked and outraged. Connie hushed her before Lula continued, "That's just damn disappointin'. I expected better from that man." She harrumphed her disgust. I heard the server arrive with their food.

I turned on my heels, made it down the hall, out the door and to my car before I lost it completely. I didn't even know what to do. I wanted to scream, cry, throw up and shoot something all at the same time. It didn't matter that it was none of my damn business what Ranger did but it hurt just the same. I thunked my head on the steering wheel half a dozen times before sending a quick text to the group chat, telling them I had rolled in garbage with a skip and needed to go home and shower. As I pulled out of the lot, the tears started. Soon they were streaming down my face as I rage-screamed.

Somehow I made it to my apartment without running into a tree or another car. I rushed up to my apartment, even taking the stairs so I could avoid seeing anyone. Once home, I ransacked my kitchen, looking for anything to eat to stave off my feelings. I found some cookie dough in the fridge, cut through the end of the tube and took a big bite, holding it like it was a turkey leg. I found a beer and took my treats to the couch. I only lasted a few minutes before the snack made me feel sick. I rushed to the bathroom and made it just in time to empty my stomach. It didn't take long for it to empty and then I cried and dry heaved for a few minutes. Once it stopped, I slumped to the floor, the tile felt wonderfully cool on my cheek and I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep in hopes I would wake up and this would just be some horrible nightmare.

I awoke to a hand on my cheek and a soft voice, "Babe, are you okay?" If the Babe didn't give it away, the tingle up my spine told me my wake up call was courtesy of Ranger. Mmm...Ranger. He smelled so good as he scooped me up and carried me to the couch. I snuggled into his chest, feeling safe; my hero, my Batman.

BATMAN! It all came rushing back to me, Connie and Lula talking, Batman and Catwoman, Ranger and Jeanne Ellen. As realization dawned, I sat bolt upright and scrambled out of his lap. I moved too fast and a wave of dizziness came over me. Ranger's hands shot out to steady me and he tried to pull me back onto his lap. I wriggled out of his grasp and grabbed the half drunk beer bottle and tube of cookie dough from the coffee table and hightailed it to the kitchen.

I dumped the rest of the beer down the drain and put the cookie dough in a ziploc bag and placed it back in the fridge. I closed the door and leaned my head against it, closing my eyes. I was horrified and embarrassed he found me like that and I was still angry, hurt and confused and feeling like an asshole because I didn't really have a right to feel anything. It was none of my business. Except it felt like my business. I wanted it to be my business. Before I could comprehend what that meant I felt his hands settle on my hips. Shit.

"Babe?" he questioned. Pulling his right hand from my hip he used it to tuck my curls behind my ear so he could see my face. I kept my eyes closed. Not satisfied, he moved his hands to my shoulders and turned me to face him. He pulled me to him and tucked me into his embrace. For a moment he just held me and I let him before deciding this was not going to help my problem. I stiffened and tried to pull away and he let me. I backed up against the counter and leaned on it. He took up his post on the opposite counter and asked again, "Babe, what is it? What happened?"

I stared at my feet, not wanting to look him in the eye. Hurriedly I made an excuse, "I think I might be coming down with something, or it was something I ate. I'll be fine. You should go. I might be contagious."

His hand was under my chin and he tipped my head up, forcing me to look him in the eye and lie to him. "Steph, Zip and Zero saw you leave Pino's without eating and Hal and Cal passed you on your drive home. They said you were screaming and crying. What happened?" His eyes took in my face, in all its red and puffy glory. His usual mask was gone and I could see he was concerned. "Did someone hurt you? Is someone else hurt? What's going on?" Seeing the look on his face, his concern and knowing that it was that of a friend made me feel worse. He was my friend, he never promised me anything morej this was misery of my own making.

I sighed, "I'll be fine. It's no big deal, I just got upset. I overreacted. It's fine, I'm fine, everything's fine." He let go of my face, opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water before grabbing my hand and pulling me to the couch. He sat down and pulled me into his lap. I tried to protest but he ignored me. Instead he handed me the water bottle and closed his arms around me. We sat in silence for what seemed like forever. I drained the water, not realizing how dehydrated I was from the tears. I played with the cap and the bottle, determined to wait him out.

"Can you tell me now what happened?" His voice was soft and deep. He punctuated his question with a comforting squeeze around me. "You're obviously not fine."

I tried to brush it off, "It's no big deal, no one is hurt, I'm not hurt. I just got some news that surprised me, that's all." I kept fidgeting with the bottle, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Was it Morelli and the nurse?" His voice had an edge to it, like if it was Joe who upset me Ranger would make sure he was sorry.

Startled, I turned to look at him, "What?"

He took one hand and started rubbing my back in a soothing motion. "Tank took Hector to the ER for a knife wound and saw Morelli getting just short of a full physical exam from a nurse in the stairwell." Again his voice held an edge tinged with annoyance. Huh.

Shaking my head I answered, "No, I didn't know about that. But it's okay. We're in that stage where we're allowed to see other people. I think it's pretty much over but no one is willing to call it." I could care less who Morelli was seeing, our relationship was dying slowly on the vine and I was a little surprised by how little the news affected me.

The look in Ranger's eyes showed surprise briefly before they warmed and he cradled my face with his hands and kissed me softly on the lips. "Proud of you Babe," he whispered before kissing me again. This time he deepened the kiss, sliding his hands down my arms to my waist before grabbing my hips and rearranging me on his lap so I was straddling him. I dropped the water bottle and slid my hands up his chest, over his shoulders and into his hair. His tongue teased my lips and I opened for him, moaning at the sensation, his hands on my hips pulled me in closer and I ground myself against him. The thought of Morelli with someone else brought on no emotion whatsoever. I was free and as far as I was concerned, unattached. I was unattached, but Ranger was not. The thought washed over me like a bucket of ice water and I jumped up and away from Ranger.

"We can't do this!" I said in a rush. I ran to my bedroom and shut the door, knowing locking it wouldn't do me any good. I flopped face down on my bed and resisted the urge to cry. I did use my arms and legs to flail about like a toddler having a fit but it brought me little satisfaction.

I felt the bed dip next to me as Ranger laid on his side. His hand moved to my back to rub soothing circles. Damnit, this was not helping. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" His voice held caution but frustration.

"You shouldn't be in my bed. She wouldn't like it," I mumbled into my pillow. I was exhausted.

His voice was tight, and his hand stilled, "He wouldn't like it? From your reaction earlier I thought you beyond caring what Morelli thinks."

I lifted my head off the pillow and turned to glare at him, annoyed, heartbroken and tired of the whole situation. I was met with his blank face, "Not Morelli. Catwoman. Your girlfriend." I tried to roll over and put some space between us, but he pinned me and flipped me onto my back as he loomed over me.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend." Now he was beyond annoyed and his jaw was tight.

I struggled against his grip with little success, "Well, fuck buddy, dick appointment, whatever you call it. She thinks she's your girlfriend." I spit out at him. Feeling just the tiniest bit of compassion for Jeanne Ellen if she thought it was more serious than he did.

If I thought he was frustrated before, now he looked downright angry. Very slowly in evenly punctuated breaths he asked, "What the fuck are you talking about?" I'd never seen him quite this pissed, well not directed at me anyway. But rather than be smart I got more pissed off.

I lifted my chin and spit out, "Jeanne Ellen."

If I thought I'd never seen him angry, I'm positive I had never seen the look currently on his face, it was complete confusion. "What? Jeanne Ellen and I aren't dating." I gave him a pissy face. I swear he rolled his eyes before adding, "And we're not fucking. The only relationship I have ever had with her is a purely professional one." Now it was my turn to look surprised.

"What did you hear? From who? Because I can tell you it's 100% bullshit." Now he was staring intently at me and it was a bit unnerving. He let me push him off me and he moved us up towards the headboard. He settled back against it and placed me between his legs with my back to him. "Well?" he prodded.

"Connie. She said you were dating Catwoman." I let out a sigh. I hope he didn't kill Connie for spreading gossip about him. He didn't like people knowing his business.

"Catwoman?" he asked, obviously confused.

I explained, "You know how I call you Batman?" He made a noise in response. I took it to mean 'Yes and you're a dork.' I continued on, "Well when I met Jeanne Ellen, she was like the female version of you and dressed up in black leather. So I nicknamed her Catwoman." It made sense in my head but sounded stupid when I said it outloud.

He paused a moment, "Tell me exactly what she said."

I thought back to that horrific moment and responded, "Something about how Batman and Catwoman were dating now." Just remembering it made me feel ill.

"She said Batman?" he asked. I nodded. "She didn't say my name?" I shook my head.

He picked me up and turned me around so I was once again facing him. He held my eyes, "I don't know what the hell she's talking about Babe. But it wasn't me and it wasn't Jeanne Ellen." I wanted to believe him. More than anything I wanted to believe him. He saw the doubt in my eyes, "Babe, I've never lied to you and I'm not about to start now, not when we finally…" He stopped himself.

"Finally what? What were you going to say?" Argh. I was dying to know what he was going to say.

"Babe, I've always wanted to be able to give you more. But neither of us were ready. Maybe now we are." His eyes were warm, his voice held the tiniest hint of strain.

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I put my hand over my mouth in astonishment and asked, "Really?" My eyes were misting up and there was a lump in my throat.

He took my hand away from my mouth and gently kissed my palm before giving me the gentlest of kisses. I anticipated things heating up once again like they had on the couch but he pulled back and then stood bringing me with him. "We're going to do this right. Dinner tonight?" I just nodded, dumbstruck. "Talk to Morelli, make sure he's on the same page as you are. I won't share you with him." I just nodded dumbly again and he kissed me, more intense this time. When he pulled back he said, "And find out what the hell Connie was talking about." And with that, Batman, my Batman was gone.

Part two coming...