a/n: Thanks for the reviews and encouragement. Special thanks to xjerseygirl for helping me iron out my plot. Belle

Bobtail: Chapter Two

I took the stairs down from my apartment. I would say it was because I decided to start a mid-year resolution, but truthfully the elevator was out of order. Waiting in the parking lot was Ranger's supped up black Dodge Ram. I smiled when I opened the passenger door and boosted myself up into the seat.

"Babe," Ranger greeted, his eyes twinkling. It was strange to see him wearing his arm in a sling. Batman wasn't supposed to wear a sling. I closed the door behind me and buckled up.

"So are we off to the mall for more Abercrombie and Fitch to add to your wardrobe?" I teased. Ranger gave me that look but didn't answer. "You were really cute dressed like that," I continued, enjoying the fact that Ranger was embarrassed.

"Did you forget the agreement?" Ranger asked at the next light.

"You mean when you told me to not mention the incident again and I never actually agreed?" I smiled at him innocently and he looked like he wanted to sigh, naturally he didn't. Probably because his ribs hurt. He just looked straight ahead. The corner of his lip was curling in amusement. "You must be really upset," I commented.

"Why is that?"

"You still have to drive automatics for at least two more weeks while your arm is in that sling," I pointed out. He didn't say anything, not that I expected him to say anything. I smiled in satisfaction. I had him pegged. I figured out where we were going after a few streets.

"We're going to Pino's?"

"No," Ranger answered. I frowned at him. Then why did we just pull into the pizza joint's parking lot? He turned to look at me; his dark eyes made me melt to the core. "You're going into Pino's."

"And that would be because….why?"

He reached past me and pulled open the glove compartment. He handed me a manila envelope. "Hand that to the owner and then come back."

I accepted the package none-too happy with being the errand girl. I wondered what was inside. It was probably information on someone that someone asked RangeMan to track down. I nodded to myself. Obviously, what else could be in the top secret envelope? I was sorely tempted to open it. However, I didn't want another psycho chasing after me just yet and it seemed that every time I opened something I wasn't supposed to a psycho would soon find me.

I walked inside, handed it to the owner, and then walked back to Ranger like the good little girl I was. He grinned at me after I shut the door. "Proud of you, Babe."

"Any particular reason?" I asked as he shifted the truck into reverse with his good hand and then began maneuvering the wheel with the same hand a moment later. Even with the use of only one arm he was more coordinated that I could ever hope to be.

"You didn't open the envelope."

"How do you know I didn't open it?" I challenged. He didn't answer, but he was definitely amused now and he wasn't even bothering to hide it. I could see that smirk at the corner of his mouth! "Fine, what was in it?"

"Babe," he admonished me like a father to his child. I folded my arms over my chest and glared out the window. I wasn't a child! I was the same age as him! Well, technically he was two months older, but still.

"So why did you have me deliver the envelope?" I asked.

"And have people see me in a sling?" He questioned with an arched brow. He had a point. Batman never wore a sling. It would ruin his image even more than the Abercrombie and Fitch outfits he wore a few weeks ago.

"If you had a cape, no one would notice your arm," I suggested.

Ranger grinned. "Babe, if I wore a cape I would be worried about more than my image." That's true; even I would question his sanity then. I laughed at that and he continued to drive silently for many more miles. I enjoyed this aspect of Ranger. He was human around me now. Batman is great and all, but it's Bruce Wayne that steals your heart. Maybe it was his confession about having an emotional attachment to me that he didn't have for anyone else that gave me this feeling of giddiness on top of the overwhelming lust whenever I thought of him.

"So, Joe called you," I said, interrupting the silence. Ranger didn't answer. "It certainly is abrupt him leaving like this." I watched his expression carefully, not that it would help considering he never gave anything away. "Do you know anything about that?"

Ranger turned towards me with a slow smile spread across his lips. "I might. What are you willing to do to find out?"

I ignored the heat that raced through my body as his words brought back memories of our one night together. "Why did he wait until this afternoon to tell me he was leaving?"

"Maybe he didn't know he was leaving until this afternoon."

Oh. I hadn't thought of that. "Do you know where he's going?"

"Same place we are," Ranger answered. I redirected my attention to the road and realized Ranger wasn't dropping me back off at the apartment. Instead we were heading outside of Trenton.

"And where would that be?"

"Just outside of Boston."

"For how long?"

"As long as it takes."

"What for?"

"Family issue."

"So why am I coming with you then?" I asked.

The look he gave me told me all. He didn't have to answer verbally. I was coming along because he trusted me, either that, or for comic relief. I chose to believe the former. "What is Tank doing?"

"Besides Lula?" Ranger quipped. His answer shocked me so much that my heart stopped. He glanced over towards me in concern. "Steph, you okay?"

I coughed and nodded my head. "What about Rex? I can't just leave him alone for some unknown amount of time!"

"Tank is dropping Rex off at your parent's house," Ranger answered.

What was I going to do about clothes? What about my hair dryer? What about my mascara? What about those cute little boots I just bought with Lula last weekend?

"Babe, you'll be taken care of," Ranger assured me. I blinked at him. Did I just say all that aloud? I leaned back against the leather seats of the Dodge and closed my eyes. It was a long drive to Boston.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Sometime during the trip I had nodded off. When I opened my eyes we were pulling into the driveway of a suburban home. The garage door was raised and Ranger drove the truck inside. The garage was normal enough, complete with a mini-van and power tools. The Hayabusa motorcycle sitting in the drive was a little out of place. I turned towards Ranger as he pulled the keys out of the ignition. "Whose house is this?"

"My brother's."

Ranger stepped out of the truck and I did the same. I tried not to overact at the fact that I was meeting someone else in Batman's family. I stood beside him at the front of the hood. The door from the house that led into the garage was pushed open and a man, slightly older looking than Ranger and a shade shorter stood in the doorway, spilling light into the garage.

"Carlos," the man greeted with a 200-watt smile that was achingly familiar to Ranger's. It had been a while since I had seen Ranger don his mind-blowing smile.

Ranger nodded at him silently and placed his uninjured arm around my shoulders and led me inside.

"You must be Stephanie," the apparent brother ventured as he held the door open for us. "I'm Miguel." He extended his hand and I shook it.

"Is it secure?" Ranger asked leading me into the den. I looked around the room in a daze. Apparently Ranger wasn't the only Manoso handy with a gun. There was evidence of game all over the room from deer head with giant antlers, to a large bear in the corner posed to attack, and a giant mountain lion near the fireplace.

Miguel crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Ranger. My heart skipped a beat. It should be illegal to have two gorgeous Cuban-American men in the same room. "Of course," he answered.

Ranger sat on the couch, pulling me down to sit beside him. Miguel sat across from us. "Where's Melissa and the kids?"

"Dinner at her parent's house," Miguel answered. He leaned back in his chair. "The cop arrived a few hours ago."

"I thought he might," Ranger agreed. I darted my eyes between the two brothers. What were they talking about? Now I was very curious about the family matter.

"I don't know what happened, but Celia is in some serious trouble," Miguel continued. I blinked, Celia? I remember that name. That's Ranger's sister, the one that dated the FBI agent.

"Wrong place, wrong time, I'm sure," Ranger answered. He looked down on me, his arm around my shoulders pulling me against him. "Our sister has been linked to a murder." He paused. "It's the one Morelli was sent to investigate."

"Why would he be sent all the way to Boston?"

"Because of the victim," Miguel answered.

I must have shown my how clueless I felt. "More bad business Babe, the victim was a major drug lord with connections to both the mafia and some bad gangs."

"In Boston?"

"It's everywhere."

"So, what's the plan?" I asked eager to help prove Ranger's sister's innocence. Mostly I was eager because I didn't want to be too involved in drugs, mafia, and gangs. Ranger still had three broken ribs and his arm was in a sling. When Batman was on the injured list it didn't bode well for Robin.

"More like Cat woman," Ranger interrupted my thoughts.

I turned to him, noting his grin. "Huh?" Surely I did not say that thought aloud. "What do you mean Cat woman? I'm not Cat woman."

"I don't know, you seem to have nine lives from the way I hear it," Miguel said. I stared at him. How does he know that? Does that mean Ranger has talked about me to his family? How much has he told them?

"We could get you the black leather suit," Ranger grinned wider, full 200 watts. He leaned over and kissed me softly below my ear.

Miguel picked up a folder from the coffee table and tossed it at Ranger. He took his arm from my shoulders and moved his hand to thumb through the papers within. He pulled out a black and white still shot of a beautiful Latin-American woman with long, straight hair and delicate features. "This is Celia," he explained handing me the photograph.

Ranger continued to read the material in the folder. After a few minutes he looked back up at his brother. "Is this all we have?"

Miguel shrugged. "You know Celia is almost as bad as you at keeping her privacy protected."

I couldn't help but wonder what my role in all this was. I didn't think Morelli would be very happy with me to hear I'm involving myself in his investigation. Ranger closed the file and tossed it back on the coffee table. He and his brother shared a silent message, probably using the Manosa ESP.

"What's for dinner?" Ranger asked.

"Sorry, all out of grass you'll have to settle for the left over lasagna we had for dinner," Miguel said.

Miguel led us back towards the kitchen where he pulled the lasagna out of the oven, where it had been kept warm for us. He set out a large helping onto our plates, leaving Ranger and me in the kitchen.

"Celia didn't do it, did she?" I asked forking a large amount of lasagna into my mouth. It was amazing! During one of my visits to the Bat Cave Ella had made similar lasagna. I wondered if it was the same recipe.

Ranger met my eyes from across the table but didn't say a word. I ate my lasagna silently. I realized that it didn't matter whether or not Celia was innocent of the murder or not. Ranger would do all he could to help her disappear. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. But of everyone I knew Ranger was the only person I trusted to have a perfect sense of morals that he followed. The only problem was what he viewed as right did not always walk hand-in-hand with what was legal.

Miguel walked into the kitchen wearing a backpack with a motorcycle helmet under his arm. He tossed a set of keys to Ranger who caught them with ease. "To the van and the house." He opened the door that led to the garage. "Try not to get my house destroyed," he called over his shoulder.

I had watched the exchange with my fork poised halfway to my mouth. I heard a motorcycle engine start and then I heard it careen down the street. I raised my fork the rest of the distance to my mouth and looked at Ranger expectantly.

He placed the keys on the table and finished his lasagna. He sat back in his chair and watched me. "Where did Miguel go?" I asked when it became apparent he wasn't planning on volunteering the information.

"Vacation," he answered with a grin.

"So, you wanted me to join you while you house-sit, right?"

His grin grew wider, "Right."