Standard disclaimers, I don't' own them and I'm not making money

This story will later turn into a comedy, but some drama must take place to get the storyline started.

Chapter 1

My ass had a cramp.

Ranger said this new chair would help, and it did, but only for the first few weeks.

I had finally entered reality and knew that with how slow bounty hunting had become, I would need to pick up a job here with Ranger so that I could pay my bills. The downsides of having money in my pocket? A cramp in my ass and boredom…all…day…long.

But hey, I got free lunch, got to hang around a bunch of hot men all day long, and had that extra cash for those hot pair of shoes at Macy's I was eyeing up.

All in all life was pretty damn good.

Oh, except I haven't had sex in, oh I don't know, WEEKS!

My shower massager has been the only company I have had since Joe and I called it quits about a month and a half ago.

I was just settling down after a hard day of bounty hunting to watch Ghostbusters and try to forget that Tim Harris had rolled me in garbage and caused me to need stitches in my arm.

I heard the knock on my door but before I could get up to see who it was, Joe walked in, using the key I had given him a long time ago. He smiled at me, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes and I knew something was wrong. His words still rang in my ears…

"Cupcake, this isn't going to work anymore. I love you, I really, do but not in the way that you need to be loved. I can't have my girlfriend having to get stitches everyday or getting kidnapped or stalked on a daily basis. To be with me you would have to give up your job and what makes you you and I refuse to take that away from you."

For once I hadn't argued with him. I had cried a little after he had left, wondering if I had just blown my last shot at happiness. When I woke up the next morning I had felt pretty good, and applied here again. I had thought I would have the added bonus of being close to Ranger and getting to indulge now that I wasn't with Joe, but Ranger had only led to more frustration.

There had been no innuendos, no stolen kisses, and no tugs of the hair. I rarely saw him now, he rarely spoke to me, and if we happened to be in the same room he tried to avoid me as much as possible, no matter how hard I tried to get closer to him.

I had to admit, it hurt like hell. The hurt almost overrode the anger I felt towards being ignored. Almost.

I wanted to go up to him and shake him something fierce and demand to know what the hell his problem was, but I knew that it would do no good, so I let it go and tried to not let it bother me. But of course, every day that I spent in this building it did. Too bad I needed this job to survive.

Joe and I had had pleasant talks over the last few weeks, meeting for lunch occasionally and becoming just friends. I hadn't seen him in a few days, he was currently dating a high school math teacher and he apparently really liked her.

I was immensely happy for him, but I wanted Ranger to go back to the way things were.

I was brought out of my musings by Lester, who had appeared in my cub with a huge grin on his face. I was dying to know what had put it there.

"Hey Bomber, we have to meet in the conference room in five for a meeting," Lester said before whistling down the hall.

Ugh! This must be really good if Lester was excited about a meeting. I would bet money on it putting me to sleep. The only thing that would get Lester excited about a meeting was the possibility of lots of shooting and violence going on. That boy was entirely too obsessed with guns and other weapons.

I groaned as I stood up and stretched. I made a quick stop at the restroom before grabbing a bottle of water and heading into the conference room. Ranger, Lester, and Tank were already there. Ranger looked up and briefly nodded at me before turning his attention to the file in front of him.

I sighed as I sat down, getting even sicker of this cold Ranger bull.

"Hey, Bomber, how is it going?" Tank asked me, a pleasant smile on his face. Tank was scary looking, but he wasn't all that bad.

"My ass as a cramp," I said sitting back and beginning to engage in a thumb wrestling match with Lester. I swear one of these days I WILL beat his ass.

Tank just laughed as sat back, and maybe it was my imagination going wild, but I could have sworn a small smile made it on Ranger's face. I couldn't be sure though.

Finally Bobby and Cal joined us and Ranger set his file down and sat up straighter. Lester had just beat me, so we didn't start another one knowing that the meeting was about to start.

Ranger started the meeting almost as soon as everyone had been seated.

"Robert Hicks. Aged 35, currently wanted for assault with a deadly weapon. Vinnie bonded him out," Ranger began, flashing the picture of him on the screen behind him. Just looking at him made me shiver. He had long hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in years and eyes the bulged out of his eye sockets. How the hell did Vinnie find these creeps?!

"He went FTA about two weeks ago, and nobody has seen him here. We have been doing surveillance and other related things, but he still has been a no show anywhere," Tank continued where Ranger left off. I was beginning to think that Lester was crazy for getting excited. This man gave me the willies.

"We got a tip a few days ago that he was in Las Vegas. I have had it confirmed by multiple sources."

So this is why Lester was so excited. I could only assume that the people in this room were heading to Las Vegas to catch this guy.

"I've assembled you guys to go with Tank and I to Las Vegas to bring him back to Trenton. Steph, you will want to be on in case we need you for a distraction," Ranger said. This was the first time in awhile he had really spoken to me, but he wouldn't even look at me as he said it.

"We want you to be ready to leave on the Rangeman jet by tomorrow at 9 am. We want to get this done and over with as soon as possible," Tank instructed, "Pack what you think you will need, so Steph work your magic on your distraction wardrobe, and I want you all armed to the teeth. This guy is incredibly violent."

Great. We were going to Vegas to catch an extremely violent man. Just the kind of guy I wanted drooling over me as I pulled him in during a distraction.

By the end of Tank's instructions Lester was practically bouncing in his seat.

Ranger gave him a look before addressing his excitement, "Santos?"

"Please tell me we will get free time!"

I couldn't help it I started laughing my ass off. The way he said it made me think we were in Elementary school again. I had almost expected him to raise his hand the way he was bouncing around. The excitement in his voice was like that of one of my nieces.

Ranger let out a breath, "Yes, Lester you can have some free time," Ranger responded noticing the childlike excitement.

"YES!" Lester yelled.

Tank chuckled as I stopped laughing out loud, but my shoulders continued to silently shake. These were the times I was reminded of how much I loved these guys.

I looked at Ranger, curious about if he was going or not. Last time Vegas was involved he couldn't go because of legal issues.

Bobby beat me to asking him. "Boss, have all the legal issues involving you and Nevada been cleared up?"

"Yes, thankfully. It only took them long enough," Ranger said, a hint of frustration in his voice over Nevada.

"That reminds me that I want you all to be careful. The last thing I need are those damn Vegas cops up my ass again. All they do is give me a headache."

A few more comments were passed back and forth as we all sat and talked about the case. Lester was talking excitedly to Cal, who seemed to have his Rangeman blank face on showing nothing of the fun Lester had. Tank and Bobby were engrossed in a conversation about what weapons to take, and before long Lester joined in too.

"You guys and your weapons," I told them shaking my head.

"You know you love your gun Bomber!" Lester tormented as he laughed. He was entirely too excited about violent and Vegas.

I almost died when I heard Ranger whisper Babe. It had been so long since he had done that, that I jumped. I looked at him in shock and the small smile disappeared. I wonder what he thought was going to happen when he finally addressed me.

Ranger snapped back to focus quickly, "Alright everyone back to work. Remember, 9 sharp and the hanger tomorrow."

I started to get up when I felt a hand on my wrist. I looked down at the mocha latte skin, shock again coming to me at his touch.

"Stay, Steph, I need to talk to you," he said.

Damn.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Let me know what you think!! There will be tons of humor later on I just needed to get the story line going with Ranger and Steph