Who the Hell?

For Mooncat, cos she asked and it's a good idea and I'm hoping for more chapters of Nisha…

Morelli and I were sitting at Pino's procrastinating. I was enjoying a healthier version (but still excruciatingly tasty one) of my favorite meatball sub, he was eating a pizza. We kept throwing covert glances at one another, wondering just who would have the guts to bring it up first.

We were being watched by every other person in Pino's; this conversation had been one of the most awaited ones in the history of the Burg. From the other side of the diner I could see people watching our every move. Some had gone as far as to adjust their breathing to match ours.

I rolled my eyes when I saw one woman shush her husband as she watched us avidly. Joe grinned slightly, but remained silent.

I finally cracked"We need to talk." I said, mentally cracking my knuckles and hoping for the best.

He sighed, and nodded"I know." He rubbed his face and then nodded, waiting for me to start it. It was my responsibility, I suppose, having called him to this meeting.

"It's over" I said bluntly"I think it has been for a while." Although I had known for a while that we weren't going to last, saying those words still hurt. An ache in my heart lightened, as I felt free despite the pain. My chest tightened as I saw the pain in Joe's face.

"I know" he nodded again, for once not letting his cop face appear"I miss you." As though we had been over for a while. I knew what he meant, though. Both of us had seen the rift growing and both of us knew just how false our relationship was; built upon what we used to have, not what we had now.

"Me too" I said.

"But we weren't going to work." He said quietly.

"I know." I agreed as I sighed and tears filled my eyes"Joe, I"

"EVERYBODY GET ON THE GROUND" a voice shouted from the doorway, and then bullets sprayed throughout the room. Joe and I both fell to the ground, instinctively at the sound of bullets flying. When the shock faded, I looked around in fear. At the doorway there were a handful of men, armed to the teeth, dressed all in black with masks covering their faces.

They looked scary.

My eyes met Joe's and he looked panicked and out of control. I touched my hand to his arm and looked at his eyes"Calm down" I said quietly"you have to stay in control." Because I didn't know what I'd do if he wasn't in control – as much as we weren't together, he was my rock.

His eyes held mine for a moment, and he grasped my hand and seemed to gain in confidence. Finally he relaxed slightly. "You okay" he asked, looking at me"did you get shot"

I shook my head, my eyes wide"did you"

"No."

We looked around the room at that thought, Joe calling out"IS ANYONE HURT"

A muffled moan came from the other corner of the room and Joe swore softly.

"SHUT UP" one of the men with guns growled, swinging his Uzi around the room"DON'T SAY A FUCKING WORD"

The men went around the room, searching everybody for weapons and items of value, confiscating all of them. Within ten minutes they had taken over a hundred different weapons and discovered that they were holding a room full of cops at gunpoint. They liked that, as I'm sure you can guess, and threatened to kill everyone in the room if they didn't co-operate – not that anyone was stupid enough to do anything without weapons. All the weapons and valuables were poured into big black bags which two of the men loaded into a car.

I had been trying to get to my cell phone, which they hadn't found, when the man with the gun noticed me moving. "You" he said, pointing the gun at me"Stand Up"

As I shifted, my phone fell out of my hand and into Joe's. I hoped he would know what to do. I stood slowly"What do you want" I asked clearly.

"Come Here" the man ignored my question and motioned for me to move towards him. When I didn't move, he pointed the gun at a little boy crouched beside his parents to his left"Do you want me to shoothim" he demanded"ComeHere"

I looked at the child and then did as he instructed. He stopped me about a meter from where he stood and motioned for me to turn around. When I hesitated, he clicked the safety off and pointed it at the boy. I turned slowly. He stopped me halfway, his hand grabbing my shoulder and pulling me to him. Roughly his hand kneaded my breast and I gasped in pain, my eyes filling with tears.

"Yes" he murmured"you'll do fine."

He pointed his gun at the child, and spoke directly to me"You are going to walk out of this restaurant and into that black van" he said pointing to the one they'd loaded all the goodies into"and you will get into the drivers seat and start the car. If you doanything other than that, this brat will have a bullet in his head, is that clear"

I nodded.

"GO" he commanded.

With a pained glance at all my friends in the room, the numerous cops, Joe, Pino and all the regulars, I did as instructed, turning and walking out the door. The keys were in the ignition and I turned it and waited.

The other man came out, the child being led at gunpoint. He pushed the child into the car and sat him on the console. The child started to cry.

"Shut Up" the man snapped, pulling himself in and pointing the gun at his head, as he shut the door. "SHUT UP"

I put an arm around the boy and pulled him to me, comforting him as best I could"he's scared" I said angrily"you have to make him calm before he'll be quiet."

As a rule, I hate the idea of kids – they're noisy, messy and generally annoying – but I felt sorry for this kid; he looked exactly like I felt… Out of his league and well and truly in over his head for something that wasn't his fault. I knew exactly what he felt like.

"Or I could just put a bullet through his brain" the man snapped"then he'd be quiet! Drive"

"Where to" I asked, thinking to myself – hello! Some direction would be nice here; otherwise I'll just drive to the police station and drop you off, you crazy buffoon!

"We'll start by driving to New York" he said coolly"and drop off the bags in the back. You're going to doexactly what I tell you, or the little boy will suffer for it, is that clear"

I nodded slowly and we rolled out of the lot, as hundreds of police cars rolled in. I caught Eddie Gazarra's shocked gaze as he saw me behind the wheel. I tried to flash him a confident, I'll-be-alright look, but am fairly sure I failed.

"Good." The man beside me said"Now drive quickly, butdon't crash."

I remained silent and kept going, hoping that this was just all a very bad dream and I would wake up any minute now and find myself at home and comfortable in my bed.

The little boy sniffled and leaned onto me.

"What's your name" I asked the man.

He eyeballed me, and stroked his gun but didn't say anything. I rolled my eyes

"Can I talk to the child" I asked acidly"or do you want to have him crying the rest of the trip"

"Talk, whatever, but remember, if you screw up, he's the one that suffers." The man sneered vindictively at me.

With my free hand, I mussed the kid's hair"What's your name, kid" I asked.

"Will" he said"who're you? My mommy was watching you wif the scawy coppa before."

"I'm Stephanie" I said with an enthusiastic smile"andeveryone was watching me and the cop. Because we were arguing."

"Where are we going" the little boy asked tentatively.

"We're going to New York" I said after a moment"have you ever been"

He shook his head mutely. He had stopped crying, probably because he was able to talk now, but his face was tearstained and drawn. I drove in silence for a few minutes before finally he spoke again"Is my mommy going to be angry" he asked.

"Of course not" I said, trying to comfort him"If you can be a good boy, and not cry anymore, she'll be very proud of you." I really sucked at dealing with kids, I thought"But you have to be strong, alright"

He nodded.

"Yo" Ranger answered his phone tersely; some moron had apparently shot out Pino's, taken everyone's stuff and two hostages. The police scanner had frozen up despite one of their skips having been spotted by the cops.

"Manoso." Joseph Morelli's voice rang through the phone.
"Morelli. Normal Arrangements" Ranger was curious as to why Joe would be calling him in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Normally if they had to speak, it was late at night on the weekend. He figured it was to do with the shooting at Pino's. Probably they wanted his help finding the hostages.

"No." Joe's voice was curt and angry"Shorty's, ten minutes. Bring your team, we have a major problem."

Ranger disconnected and pressed the 911 button on his pager that connected the entire primary team. He then gave Tank instructions to bring the whole team to Shorty's in twenty minutes. Although he hated taking orders, Morelli had sounded panicked and worried - unusual when the other man was working.

When he arrived at Shorty's, he discovered that Morelli was already there and was looking about shiftily in their usual booth. Ranger was surprised; the man was usually more arrogant and confident; even if he was sure that ninety percent of it was an act.

"What's wrong" Ranger demanded"Weren't you having lunch with Stephanie" His babe had mentioned it to him that morning, warned him so that if he heard the rumors he'd know the truth.

"That's what I'm here about." Joe looked really cut up, now that Ranger looked closely"There was a hold up when we were at Pino's" Morelli said"Five guys with guns took all the weapons and valuables, including Steph and a kid."

Ranger just looked at him and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Steph's number. It rang in Joe's pocket.

"This slipped out of her pocket just before he took her." Joe handed him the phone.

"She didn't fight" Ranger sounded surprised.

"He threatened a kid" Joe replied"She did exactly what she was told. He took her and the kid, she's driving."

"Where are they going" Ranger tried to think straight but all he could do was think of his babe with a gun at her head, or a child's.

"It looks like New York" Joe said"but we're following them with a chopper at the moment. If anything changes, we'll know."

Ranger nodded thoughtfully, unsurprised by Morelli's arrogance and confidence in the departments resources, but far more skeptical of it himself. "Let me know." He said, rising and walking out just as his team reached the doorway.

Joe just stared"you mean you'renot going to rescue her" he demanded"I thought you loved her" He shook his head"You're an arrogant asshole - what was she to you, just another piece of ass"

Ranger was amused and turned to watch as Morelli abused him. The rest of the room was silent, watching. Morelli found fault with everything from the way Ranger treated Stephanie, to the color of his skin. Although outwardly remaining emotionless and blank-faced, Ranger felt his temper rise as it had not done for years. When the other man fell silent, Ranger turned and left.

Tank picked up his phone thirty seconds later"Talk."
"Conference room, five minutes." Ranger commanded"You, Lester, Bobby." He disconnected.

He had been confused with Ranger refusing to rescue Stephanie, but now he understood - Ranger just didn't want Morelli breathing down his throat. Although Tank hadn't been at the meeting between the two, he'd heard who the hostages were mere minutes after Ranger had and he'd sworn a blue streak.