Bobby Meets His Match- Chapter 19
See, I updated quickly, as promised. This chapter is a lot of talk. Please leave reviews , as I live for them.
Steph parked at the curb of the apartment building. It was actually a pretty nice complex. She had never been able to live in a place this nice. But she knew social workers didn't make that much money, so maybe the rents weren't too bad. She walked around the complex, looking for the right apartment. She shivered as she passed the pool, where Cathy had nearly drowned. She couldn't imagine what Bobby must have felt when he found Cathy there, almost dead. For a guy as strong and used to being in control as Bobby, the feeling helplessness must have been horrible. Just thinking about it made her angry, so she could understand why Bobby would want to beat the crap out of Anders.
Bobby was working a double shift tonight, with Adam, the new guy. Since Adam was new, he got stuck with the duty no one wanted,these days, Bobby's partner. She hoped that he stayed away from the 5th floor and the control room. He hadn't said anything, but she thought he was secretly glad they had put a tracker on Cathy's car. That way, they can keep an eye on her, make sure she was safe. But If he found out that Steph was at Cathy's he would be angry. He didn't want his weaknesses revealed, and certainly not discussed.
The smell of the pizza she'd brought from Pino's was making her mouth water. She figured when showing up unexpectedly at the home of someone you barely know at dinnertime, it was best to bring food. She had a six pack as well. Maybe if she got Cathy drunk…
The apartment light was on, and Steph wondered if Cathy had just gotten home. She heard a faint "mreeowr" after she rang the buzzer. Cathy's eyes widened when she opened the door and saw Steph. Steph knew Ranger loved her but if she didn't she'd be jealous of Cathy's trim little body. For the first time, Steph wondered how a guy as huge as Bobby could even, well, match up, with a petite woman like Cathy.
Cathy gave her a quizzical look. " Stephanie- remember, Bobby's coworker from Rangeman?" Steph prompted her.
"Oh, yes, of course, I 'm sorry I didn't recognize you,"
Cathy peeked outside to see if there was anyone else out there, probably hoping Bobby was.
" I brought dinner." Steph said. "Come in, " Cathy invited her. Steph walked in to a basic apartment. Ok, she officially loved Cathy, the apartment was a mess. Dished were in the sink, papers scattered all over the floor. Cathy put the slices of pizza onto plates.
"Nice place," Steph said, really meaning it. Cathy laughed. "The first time Bobby was here, I think he was horrified that it was such a mess. He is so organized." Steph laughed. She squatted to stroke the grey cat. " Be careful. Cinder will try to steal the food off your plate if you let her."
They sat down on the couch, using the coffee table as a dining table. They both were hungry and practically inhaled their first slices of pizza and the first beer. " I can't imagine Bobby sent you. He doesn't know you are here, does he?"
Steph laughed. No and she hoped to God he'd never find out. Bobby is so private. He'd be furious if he knew she was here.
"No, Bobby doesn't know. And lets keep it out little secret." Steph told her.
"You look a lot better than you did last time I saw you," Steph told Cathy. "How are you feeling?"
Cathy smiled. "I feel much better. Bobby took good care of me." Her smile faded. It was obvious she really loved Bobby and missed him.
" I never found out exactly what happened to you," Steph said.
"Well, I was out sunning at the pool, when my ex Scott came and started to harass me. He smacked me. I tried to get away from him, and I tripped and hit my head on the side of the pool. I must have fallen in and drowned.
"I understand Bobby was frantic when he found you. And Bobby doesn't do frantic. He and Lester did CPR, then took you to the hospital themselves. Bobby actually got thrown out of the ER when he argued with the doctor about how best to treat you."
Cathy laughed. That was Bobby, always confident, always protective. Cathy hadn't ever heard this part of the story before. Of course, Bobby would never tell her.
"Bobby is something else. He saved my life but he was mortified that he broke my ribs doing it."
Cathy's face lit up whenever she talked about Bobby. " How is he? Is he ok?"
"Silent, quiet, bad tempered since the two of you split up," Steph said, honestly.
Tears shimmered in Cathy's eyes, making them even more gorgeous.
" You love him, don't you?" Steph asked.
"He's so strong and sweet and gentle, and powerful, and sexy, and…" she met Steph's look and laughed.
"Yes, I agree. Bobby is one of a kind. I've known him for years. He seldom dated the same woman long, and he certainly didn't talk about the women he dated. But , well, I've never seen him about any woman the way he is about you. "
Cathy shrugged. "He's such a great guy that its hard to believe that he can be so…violent."
" I thought you were ok with the dreams," Steph said.
" I'm not really ok with them. I want him to see someone, and he'd consider it."
Wow. From what Steph had learned the guys would rather die than talk about that stuff.
"He must really love you to even consider something like that.," Steph said.
Bobby drove, doing the night patrolling of their clients, with the new guy, Adam. Lester'd had a date tonight, and so Bobby had gotten stuck with the new guy. Or the new guy had gotten stuck with him. He knew that he'd been a real bastard lately, so no one but Lester wanted to do shifts with him. Bobby had taken a double shift with a new guy-anything- to try to keep him from thinking aobut Cathy.
Bobby didn't really like working with new guys. Adam seemed ok, but he was still an unknown quantity, unproven under fire. Sure the guy was former military, but that didn't always mean he was good. Bobby missed having Les for a partner, even though he was a giant pain in the ass. He and Les had a system, they had each other's backs, they could anticipate each other's moves. They kept each other safe.
Bobby rubbed his eyes. He felt like shit. His eyes stung, and he was tired. He hadn't slept well in a week. It wasn't just the dreams, he missed Cathy. He loved about her and thought about her constantly. He knew she was upset about the Anders thing, but Bobby didn't regret it. He had gotten retribution for that fucker hurting his woman. Bobby wasn't violent and he'd never would never hurt her, she should know that. Except that he almost had.
He'd wanted to call her so badly this week, but he knew she didn't want him to. She thought he was some kind of animal now, she was afraid of him. She said she "needed time" but he knew that was just a chick euphemism for " I hate you and never want to see you again."
He had to show her he wasn't a monster. That he loved her. He had to prove to her she could trust him not to be violent. She really wanted him to talk to someone about his dreams maybe if he did, she'd want him back. But how could he bear to go through that again? What if reliving that really did make him lose control and be violent? She would hate him.
Maybe he could just be evasive and avoid talking about the war at all.
He stopped so Adam could get out car to go take a piss by the sideof the road in some shrubs.
Bobby needed to do this before he lost his nerve. "Allright, Brown. You survived three tours fighting those terrorist fuckers. You can certainly handle just talking to some woman. "he thought, trying to convince himself. He flipped the card Cathy had given him through his fingers. . This therapist was supposed to specialize in therapy for veterans with PTSD and other issues. She was supposed to be one of the best there was. Bobby sighed and got out his phone, and dialed slowly.
"Um, yeah, I want to make an appointment…"
Adam just got back into the car as Bobby was snapping his phone closed. He had an appointment for next week, and he'd just have to figure out how to avoid talking about the war.
His musing was interrupted by a call from Rangeman. An alarm had been tripped at Morton's fine jewelery, one of their clients. An armed robbery was reported in progress. Bobby quickly pulled a U-turn and sped off.
Cathy opened her second beer. "He loves me. Maybe too much. He" she sighed."Did you know he beat up Scott and left him to die?" Cathy exclaimed. " He can't just…"
" Cathy, I have known Ranger and his men for many years now. And I have learned that they operate differently from most people. "
Cathy nodded, her head down.
"Ranger, the guys, Bobby… they are good, good men. They are strong and they can handle just about any situation. Bobby can handle war zones, bleeding wounds, cars… You can feel completely confident with him in every situation. they know that the world can be a harsh place. I trust Ranger and Bobby implicitly, with my life. He literally kept you alive. But, the guys do have their "dark sides". Bobby's seen some unspeakable things, and probably had to do some unspeakable things, and he made it through because he's a good man. The guys do what is necessary to protect the people they love. They would die for me, and maybe kill for me."
"So, its ok that Bobby beat up…"
" A few years ago, a man stalked me and tried to kill me. Two days later he committed "suicide." I suspect Ranger did it. That's how the guys are. They protect what they love. There is right and there is wrong , good guys and bad guys. They do what's right, even if it may not be totally legal."
You know, Bobby really is trying to be more like you want him to be. He said he didn't actually kill Anders because he knew you wouldn't like it. For a guy like Bobby, that's huge."
"But aren't you worried that he'd get arrested?"
"Its not like they go around killing everyone. Just the ones who really deserve it. And they know how to cover their tracks.
Cathy thought about that. " I do wish he'd see someone about the dreams. I mean, they have to be hard on him. And I know he'd never hurt me on purpose, but he almost…"
Steph agreed. " I agree that he would feel better if he went to therapy. But I don't think we should push. He must really love you if he is even considering it. But don't push. Guys like Bobby don't like to be…
Steph's sentence was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. Rangeman. They knew where she was. Why would they be calling her?
"Hey, Ram, what's…"
She stopped and her face went pale. Cathy knew the news couldn't be good.
She gasped."Oh, my God. How bad is it?"
She listened and then hung up.
'Come on," She told Cathy. "We have to go. Bobby's been shot. I don't know how bad it is."