This is my first fiction, as of this point I don't believe that there are any warnings, when I started I thought it would be smut but so far not. If that changes I will let you know. I don't own anything, wish I did then I could stay home and knit all day. The bold words are part of the October Babe Squad Challenge.

Thank you for reading my story.

I woke with the knowledge that something was not quite right. The feeling in the pit of my stomach was screaming at me. I barely had my eyes open enough to see a man silhouetted against the window before I was flipped onto my stomach, and my hands were being dragged to the small of my back. I opened my mouth to scream but found the corner of my pillow shoved in my mouth. The click of cuffs on my wrists caused my heart to stop beating. In that one moment; a million things came back to haunt me. My eyes filled with tears as I realized that I would never tell my family that I loved them, and I was sorry for being a disappointment to them. I closed my eyes as my thoughts turned to Ranger I loved him very much but I had never had the courage to say it out loud, and now I never would. The light over my head clicked on, but I didn't open my eyes, I didn't want to see the face of the person who would end my life. The biggest irony of all was that I had moved far away from my home, changed jobs, and had no contact with anyone from my previous life. That I would die this way, victim of a random (possibly) home invasion, robbery well it would prove my mother and Joe right after all these years.

A weight settled lightly across my back almost as if they wanted me to know I had no chance, but did not want to squish me. Gentle hands smoothed my hair into a ponytail holder, and then the faintest softest kiss whispered across the nape of my neck. I realized that I knew those lips. Just as I was about to open my eyes he whispered, "I'm sorry, Babe."

I felt something press against my arm, heard a buzzing noise and then my world went black.

Little fragments of conversation fluttered past my head, "When we find whoever caused her to run…" The rest faded before I could catch it. "…After pain…oblivion…" Still face down on my bed, I fought to the surface trying to pull my thoughts together enough to figure out what was happening. My struggle must have been obvious to the men around me. Soon a gentle hand settled in the middle of my back "Shh, that will do Babe that will do." Ranger's voice came from somewhere behind me. Closer to my feet than my head I thought.

My heart clenched at the sound of his voice. It had been many months since his voice had said anything other than hello to me. But worse than that, four months had passed since the last hello. Partially it was his fault, and partially it was mine. His because he gave up on me, mine because I ran to escape the pain. There was movement around the room; I heard drawers being open and the sound of cloth rubbing against cloth. I didn't understand and in the time that I had been out, a blindfold had been wrapped around my head. I tilted my head slightly hoping that the movement would give me an extra little oomph to figure out what they were looking for. It didn't, in fact all it really did was remind me of one of the unfortunate side effects I enjoy that are associated with being tased. Dizziness and nausea washed over me, and I fought to keep from embarrassing myself.

"It's alright Babe, everything is just fine," Ranger's voice came again trying to soothe me. I wanted to ask what was going on but the pillow was still in my mouth and I couldn't move my head far enough to remove it. "Just lie still a few more minutes Babe, and then we'll be done."

I wasn't sure if that was supposed to reassure me or not. The noises continued for a while longer, before gradually falling silent.

"Babe, I am going to roll you over and then lift you up, you need to not make any noise please." Ranger said. "We're going to go on a little trip. If you can't be quiet I will have to make sure you are silent. I would like to avoid that if at all possible. But..." and here his voice grew hard as steel "…I will do what is necessary."

I did my best to convey to him that I would keep my mouth shut, for now. Perhaps even after all this time, my signal to Batman was still going strong, or maybe he just knew that he had scared me silent with the menace in his voice, either way he pulled the pillow from my mouth before he rolled me over. Arms from the opposite side of Ranger's hands picked me up and cradled me to a warm, large chest. Even though I desperately wanted to know what would happen next, I kept my mouth shut. I had no desire to be thrown out the window with my hands cuffed.

I couldn't see, but I could sense the person carrying me walk toward my bedroom door, and continued out of my small apartment. Quickly and silently I was carried down the stairs and out of my building. I heard a car door open and then I was being placed on my side across a bench seat. Two sets of hands carefully and gently arranged me on the seat, and a seatbelt was pulled across my hips and locked into place. A soft kiss whispered across my forehead, and I heard Ranger sigh. My mouth opened to ask what was wrong, but he spoke before I could.

"I hate to do this Babe, but I have to." With that, he placed the taser against my shoulder and zapped me again.