Rating: PG
Status: Complete (Stand-alone story)

Disclaimer: I definitely do not own F/X the series or any of its characters and I'm profiting financially from this fanfic. FX is a Fireworks Entertainment Inc. and Winterset Productions Inc. Also produced in association with Rysher Entertainment and Hallmark Entertainment. If you want to sue, you're more than welcome to inherit my debts! ;)

Timeline: Post Red Storm

Author's Notes: Hey everyone! This is the first fan fic I've ever submitted so be good and kind :) I enjoy feedback and constructive criticism (no flames please!) and just a note, this is actually the second fan fic I've written about Rollie and Ange. The reference to Dr. Miller and Ange's depression is actually from my first fan fic, and I'm out of ideas as to how to end it. So for now, that one is temporarily unfinished. This fan fic is not too exciting but I think it has its cute moments. *prays - I hope everyone doesn't hate it!* Having said that, I hope you guys enjoy this! :)

Email comments to alys@loveable.com
 

They snuggled together on the couch, the movie long forgotten. They'd had a long day, having started the day at 6 a.m. Being an F/X specialist wasn't what it was cracked out to be. The hours were long and tiring. Directors adored script changes, assuming that their crazy ideas could be easily accommodated. Actors and actresses threw temper tantrums if something gooey landed on them. Those who did stunts weren't any better. And to top it all off, nobody knew how to follow instructions anymore.

It was after a day like this that Rollie and Ange stumbled back into the loft. Ange plopped herself wearily on the couch.

"Remind me WHY I'm in the business again?" She asked, completely bone-weary.

"I'm having difficulty remembering myself, love." He replied, collapsing on the couch next to her.

They lay on the couch and faced each other.

"Sweetheart…" "Rollie…" They both began and started laughing. "Do you mind if we stayed in for tonight?" They piped up simultaneously.

"Tell you what, just for you. I will cook my house specialty tonight." Ange grinned.

"You have the energy to cook all that after the day we had?" Rollie asked incredulously. It had been a horrible day, filled with gags gone awry and screaming actors and actresses. Rollie's stomach couldn't help but let a low growl upon thinking of the food that Ange would cook up. She really was quite the chef, having learned from her mother at a young age.

"I'm talking about my other house specialty." Ange laughed as she went into the kitchen. He could hear her rummaging around looking for whatever it was. "Aha!" He heard her exclaim. "You find the movie Rollie. Anything will do. I'm not fussy at the moment." She called out. Then he heard the microwave start and a few minutes later, he heard popping noises. "Ahhh… that house specialty," he muttered, and patted his offended stomach.

After gorging themselves on popcorn, Ange snuggled into Rollie's arms as he wrapped them around her. Half an hour later, she was asleep, oblivious to the sounds and sights of bad acting and effects on the TV screen. Though Rollie was tired, he couldn't help but marvel at the sight of her in his arms. Her face was peaceful and absolutely beautiful in repose. He thought of all they'd gone through in the past 3 months. He'd been careful, taking things slow with her, wanting her to get over the experience with Loubar. Unconsciously, his arms tightened around her as he remembered her pain and agony, and how much she had suffered. It scared him senseless to see Ange the way she had been, having sunk into a despair so deep that she no longer wanted to continue living. Lucky for him, Dr. Miller, who had been responsible for keeping Ange alive up till that point, had seen his TV broadcast. He thanked his lucky stars that Dr. Miller had called, and acted as Ange's guardian angel. He looked down at the woman that he loved with all his heart, someone he had known since she was 11. He remembered all the problems she had shared with him, and her first dates. It immediately brought back memories of the last date she went on.

It had been 4 days before the premiere of Red Storm. His friend, Garrett Reid, had stopped by the loft to visit. They had been stuntmen together many years ago. Opening up a few beers, they reminisced about the "good old days".

"It's been ages, Garrett."

"I know, Rollie! It's been crazy since I last saw you. After my last injury on the set of Horror Nights, I realised I couldn't do this forever. I needed to do something with myself. Lucky for me, my old brain hadn't been knocked around too badly and I went back to school. And now here I am, working for some high tech company." He chuckled.

Just then, the door swung open and both their heads turned.

"What the…?! Ahhhh! Rollie!!!" Ange yelled out as she crashed right into the boxes that had been placed right in front of the door.

Both men jumped up to help her out, but since Garrett was sitting closest to the door, he got to her first. Rollie grinned as he made his way over.

"Told you not to blade into the loft, love."

Garrett lifted Ange up as she bladed over to the couch. She plopped herself down while rubbing her ankle.

"You know, Rol. It's not cool that you left the boxes right in front of the door." She grumbled.

Garrett immediately moved over by her side as he noticed her wriggling her right foot around. She flipped her hair out of her face just as he got closer to her and the two of them caught their first look at each other. Garrett saw a young blonde, petite, athletic yet curvy, with blue eyes that he wanted to drown in. Ange saw a man, a few years younger than Rollie, dark hair, devastating gray eyes, tall well-built frame, with killer dimples. She felt herself melt at the sight of him.

"Are you all right?" He asked, concerned. "Your right ankle right?"

She was dumbstruck. She couldn't help it. It wasn't every day that a man as gorgeous as this came across her path and was paying attention to her. She watched wide-eyed as he gently removed her blades from her right foot. He checked for broken bones while doing simple stretches on her ankle.

"It doesn't look too serious. Nothing's broken. Just a slight sprain if anything." He remarked, still continuing with his ministrations.

"Are you a doctor or something?" She asked, finally having regained her voice.

He laughed. "No no, Garrett Reid, former stuntman to the rescue. I've taken my share of wipeouts like the one you had. Probably even worse."

"One of Rollie's old friends huh?" She said tongue-in-cheek.

"Not THAT old!" They both grinned at each other, he completely fascinated with this young woman with tremendous beauty and fire in her.

"Certainly not as old as Rollie." She said saucily. "It feels much better I think." She got up and slowly moved her right foot somewhat awkwardly since she was still wearing her left rollerblade. She glanced up at Rollie's face as she finally felt the weight of his stare on her. My word, his expression certainly looks thunderous. He's probably annoyed that I took up time with his good buddy.

"Well, I should get back to work. That program is going to be the death of me!" She muttered, as she started to head to her workstation.

"Wait!" Garrett exclaimed. "Who are you?"

"My assistant, Angela Ramirez." Rollie said through clenched teeth.

Garrett continued, seemingly unaware of Rollie's rising anger. "An assistant huh? What is it that you do, Miss Ramirez?"

Ange removed her other blade, and pulled on her sneakers. She grabbed at a stack of papers and a few disks lying near the workstation.

"Computer graphics, programs, manual labour… anything my evil boss sees fit to throw at me." She grinned mischievously, though her expression changed to one of unease as she saw just how Rollie was glaring at her. "I'm … uh… I'm heading back to my apartment. Nice meeting you, Garrett! Bye Rol. Bye Bluey!" She called out as she ran out the door, unaware that both men's eyes were following her curvy figure.

"Wow. I wish I had an assistant like that. Is she single?" Garrett inquired, completely intrigued.

"Yes she is," Rollie bit out.

Garrett raised his eyebrow, having caught on to Rollie's displeasure.

"Is there something going on between you two that I should know about? I'd love to ask her out on a date."

Rollie's eyes widened. He'd been completely unaware just how angry he was. He just… reacted to a situation. He shook his head, unwilling to examine the feelings that he'd just experienced.

Garrett smiled. "Good. I'm going to ask her out then."

That night, Rollie found out that Ange had accepted a date with Garrett.

He sat home alone two days later. Usually, Ange would be over at Rollie's place, sharing dinner with him as they discussed the upcoming day's activities. If by some chance they weren't doing a movie, they were content just spending time with each other. Usually, that would be the case. Unfortunately, tonight just wasn't his night. He didn't fail to notice the look on Ange's face as she looked at Garrett. Her crystal blue eyes were wide open in wonder. Rollie knew that most women reacted that way to Garrett. He just wasn't expecting his Ange to behave the same way. He imagined the two on a date and his expression turned sour. He imagined Garrett taking Ange's hand, so delicate and small, and he looked as if he wanted to murder someone. He imagined Garrett taking Ange into his arms, fitting her petite curvy form against Garrett's larger, more muscular one, and a growl escaped him. Rollie was fit to kill. Bluey whined in the corner as if it could sense its master's emotions. Rollie refused to analyze his emotions. He was afraid of what he would find out if he did.

Around 1 a.m., the door swung open slowly as Ange stepped in quietly. She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Rollie sitting up on the couch. He looked fairly murderous.

"Uh… what are you still doing up, Rol? We have an early morning shoot." She asked awkwardly. She didn't have any idea what was going on, and she had never seen that expression on Rollie's face. She continued, as she got no response from Rollie. "I just thought that since the loft was much closer to the shoot that I could crash, and get an extra hour of sleep, rather than heading back to my apartment."

"But if you had done that, Garrett would have been able to spend the night, would he not?" Rollie spat out harshly, his nerves having been shot.

Ange looked taken aback, as if he had flung an arrow right at her.

"You know I'm not like that Rol!" She exclaimed, her expression one of extreme hurt.

"I don't know that." He retorted angrily.

Her face fell, as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

"I guess not," she whispered, as she tried to keep the other tears from falling. She turned around to leave, but she heard Rollie release a big sigh and grab her hand.

"Ange. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk. I just… I got worried you know? I mean, I know the kind of guy Garrett is…" He trailed off, silently begging for forgiveness over his lie.

Ange sniffled as she smiled. Her eyes were still watery but the smile was absolutely beautiful and it affected Rollie in a way he didn't want to think about.

"If you want to know what happened, I'll tell you." She said softly.

Rollie cringed inwardly. This was going to be one of those catch 22 situations. It would be hell if he did know what happened. It would be even worse if he didn't. He gathered his courage. He couldn't seem to find his voice, so he settled for a nod.

"Garrett is a wonderful man. He was sensitive, thoughtful, funny, and good-looking."

Rollie felt as if he was going to kill someone. He would find Garrett, and strangle that man. Rollie conjured up images of violent tortures he could inflict on Garrett and felt better. He even smiled bloodthirstily.

Ange felt her heart stop, mistaking the smile of one of approval.

"But, I don't think I could like him that way. He was gorgeous yes. Every time he smiled at me, I think I almost fainted. I still can't get over how someone that handsome could find me attractive though." She finished simply, praying that Rollie wouldn't be too annoyed that she'd turned his good friend down.

Rollie couldn't stop the words that escaped his mouth in a million years, even if he had wanted to.

"Angela, you are a beautiful young lady. Don't you ever think otherwise." He had grabbed her shoulders, and looked right into her eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes, Rollie thought. He thought about how soft her skin felt beneath his hands, and how kissable her lips were, especially now that they were open in shock.

Ange looked at him in wonder. Rollie thinks I'm beautiful? There was a peculiar look in his eyes that she'd never seen before. She felt her heart pound with excitement. Just as suddenly as the look appeared, it was gone as Rollie stepped away from her. Her heart plummeted, her hopes completely dashed. Rollie would think I am beautiful, much like a brother or father would say about me. She sighed softly, and smiled at him. She thanked him.

"I'm going to crash now. It's been a long night. I'm sorry about Garrett. It's too bad that I couldn't have liked him in that way." She apologized and left for the bathroom, leaving Rollie alone with his thoughts.

Rollie shook his head and cleared his thoughts. He would have to get Ange to explain that to him. He still wondered what happened on that date. He lowered his gaze onto Ange's face as she snuggled even closer to him. The smile on his face was tender as he pressed his lips against her hair.

"Thank you, Manny. Thank you for sharing your angel with me." He whispered softly, and fell asleep as well.