TITLE: AFTER TEN(redone)

AUTHOR:dasame

DISCLAIMER: just borrowing, not making any money, hope you enjoy.

Chapter One

Ranger watched Stephanie as she lay in the sterile hospital bed. He was well aware of Morelli watching him watch her and he could feel the cop's discomfort at having him there. But damn there was just no way he was leaving anytime soon. He did something he never did and spoke without realizing he'd done it until the words were already on his lips.

"This was too close."

Morelli glanced at Ranger and nodded, a grin coming to the corners of his face. It made him feel better to see Manoso so shaken that he was speaking without realizing it. But his copface slid back on as he turned his attention back to Stephanie. She was still and he knew from experience that she was never still. Her skin was so pale it looked translucent. Neither man spoke as they observed the woman they both loved.

Neither felt he was in a position to make a life with the curly headed brunette but they would both be damned and in hell before they would give up what they had with her. No, Stephanie Plum may have been raised in the 'burg' but they both knew she was more and it was her light that kept both of them from living in the darkness their careers regularly kept them in.

The only sound in the room came from the many monitors and machines.

Stephanie lay in the bed her face covered with bruises, her lip split. Her wild curly brown hair in a halo around her head, eyes closed. To Ranger, she looked like an angel.

Ranger approached her bed, he reached out a hand and caught a stray curl and wrapped it around his finger before letting spring back. He leaned down and whispered so quiet that Morelli couldn't hear "Babe, I love you, you're beautiful, please open those beautiful blue eyes, please I need you." He pleaded to her.

Joe's face turned angry as he watched Ranger and the intimate way he played with Stephanie's curls. He walked closer until he could tell that he was in Rangers space. In his mind that was his woman in the bed and he was going to make sure Manoso understood the facts.

Manoso looked at him with that damn blank face of his on without saying a damn word. He wanted to stare the bastard down but even more he needed information that he knew the other man had so in the end he simply asked.

"What does the Doctor say?"

He hated having to ask Ranger. But he had been held up at the scene. When they had arrived she had been standing. Minutes later she had collapsed and the paramedics had transported her to the hospital. Of course Ranger had ridden with her. He had hated that she was staying in one of his safe houses during this latest incident with the slayers. Well, if he had his way this would be the last time that Stephanie was ever going to be in this kind of danger, he planned on using this incident to convince her to marry him. Then he would make sure she got a safe job far away from Ranger and his men. Maybe he could find her something down at the station the more he thought about it, the more that idea pleased him. She would be safe at the station, he would be able to keep an eye on her and best of all, she would be away from Manoso.

The sound of Ranger's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"The bruises and split lip you can see, other than that three cracked ribs, possible concussion broken left femur and a broken wrist. She'll be having surgery on that tomorrow."

Joe grimaced, shit he knew they had meant business but they had her less than an hour. This was exactly why she had no business being a bounty hunter and he planned on making her understand that once she was awake. Then he realized that Manoso was still talking.

"Doctor said she was lucky."

"Wait just a damn minute! What do you mean lucky? Just look at her!"

Ranger looked at Stephanie and wondered for a moment what Morelli saw when he looked at her. He saw a woman with the strength to not only survive this beating but strong enough to fight back against overwhelming odds. He also saw courage and determination.

He continued. "Like I said, she was lucky all her injuries will heal with time. The worst is some swelling to her brain. The doctor thinks that's why she hasn't woken up yet. They've already run some tests and will repeat them tomorrow. The doctor figures she should be awake by then. She has no internal injuries."

Ranger closed his eyes, focusing, fighting to maintain his control. He knew Stephanie teased him about it but his years in the Rangers had taught him that control could be the difference between life and death and he still had a few things he wanted to do before he died. He knew what he was about to say would tick the cop off but he couldn't see a way around it. So he decided that the direct approach would have to do.

He looked Joe in the eye. "I'm not leaving her."

Joe could hear the possessiveness in his voice and didn't like it. His fist clenched. If Manoso wanted a fight, he'd give him one. No way was he giving up Stephanie without one.

"I sent her back to you once. This time I'm keeping her. You didn't make her happy." Ranger looked at Morelli looking for a reaction.

The reaction was immediate. "How dare you… It's your fault Steph's in that bed. First you encourage her in this foolishness, then when she gets in over her head, where are you? You didn't even keep her safe. She's is my girlfriend and I plan on making her my wife. You need to get out of here and out of her life, before you end up getting her killed."

Before he could say anything else both his pager and his cell went off. He grabbed his pager and looked at the display, than he looked at his phone. Shit. He really didn't want to leave now. When he looked up, Ranger was smiling at him.

"Work calling you away from Stephanie again Morelli? Do you even realize that every time she needs you…" He poked Joe in the shoulder. "You put work first. Does she even matter to you other then as a convenient bed buddy? If you really loved her you would put her first and let someone else head up this investigation but, no the great Morelli has to further his career."

Joe put a hand on Rangers chest and pushed him back. "And what the hell would you know about my relationship with Stephanie? I know you fucked her than sent her back to me. She's damn lucky I took her back. I don't usually take other peoples sloppy leftovers, but I love Stephanie and she will be the mother to my kids…"

Ranger's laughter suddenly filled the small room. "Morelli you don't know the first thing about love. The only reason I sent her back to you was because I knew she had unresolved feelings for you and she needed to work them out if we were ever going to have a life together. Stephanie needs someone who is willing to put her first and that is what I plan on doing from now on."

Morelli could not believe what he was hearing. Ranger was a thug, a criminal, barely legal, no way was he getting his "cupcake" the only woman he had ever envisioned having his children. Sure he'd been with lots of women but Stephanie had been the only one he wanted to have a home and family with, Terri was a tiger in bed but he'd never trust her enough to actually marry her.

Before he could say anything else the nurse walked in clearly agitated.

"Detective Morelli you have a call waiting for you at the nurse's station. They said they couldn't get through to your cell or pager." She glared at him when she saw both in his hands. "This way please."

"I have to go but we 'WILL' finish this later." Joe was almost out the door when he turned and added. "Don't be here when I return, I plan on asking Stephanie to marry me, and I will have the ring with me." Then he left the room.

A few minutes later Tank entered the room, "I heard a little of that, figured you would like it if the cop had to leave." He had a devilish smile on his face as he said it.

"Thanks, I need you to bring me a few things. I also need you to sit with Stephanie while I make some phone calls. I was thinking that Stephanie would do better in a private hospital, more privacy and more secure."

"And no unwelcome guests." Tank added with a grin.

Ranger walked back into the room thirty minutes later with the biggest grin on his face Tank had seen in forever. "From the look on your face the talk with the Plum's must have gone well." With Steph's parents there was no telling. Mrs. Plum seemed to be obsessed with getting Joe and Stephanie married.

Ranger nodded. "I talked to her parents and they agreed to the transfer."

Tank raised an eyebrow. Knowing what he did of Steph's mother he couldn't see her agreeing.

"I explained that as a Rangeman employee all of her medical bills will be covered. Then I showed them the medical power of attorney that Steph signed when she was working for Rangeman doing distractions."

Tank studied Ranger for a second and grinned. "Ranger man I know there's more to the story than that."

"Oh yeah, Mrs. Plum didn't think it would be right to move Steph without talking it over with Morelli first, him engaged to her and all."

Steph would have been proud of the eye roll Tank gave Ranger. "If she only knew about Morelli and Gillman spending almost every night at the Shady Side this past week. So what did it take to convince her?"

"I let them know that there may still be a threat. I made it clear that for her to be safe her location needed to be kept secret."

"They won't tell where she is?" Tank didn't believe for a minute that the gossips from the 'burg' could keep a secret like that.

"I let them know that I will send a car for them when they visit. The car will have blacked out windows they won't know where they're going. I explained it was safer for them that way."

"I still find it hard to believe that Mrs. Plum agreed." Ranger blushed and Tank knew something had happened besides a simple conversation. "Spill man, it will make you feel better if you tell me."

"Okay but this doesn't leave this room. Mrs. Plum was giving me a hard time and I thought I was just going to have to disappear her. When Mrs. Mazur comes down the stairs, she had overheard everything. She started in on how Morelli men were no good and then she pulled out this envelope filled with pictures of Joe with must have been twenty different women. I don't know how she got them, but Mrs. Plum agreed."

"Something else happened?"

Ranger nodded. "She grabbed me as I was going out the door. Said with a package like mine I should step up to the plate and take care of her granddaughter. She called me a wimp if I didn't."

Tanks laughter boomed in the small room. "Looks like someone in that family besides Stephanie isn't afraid of you."

Ten minutes later the doctor entered the room. "Mr. Manoso the transport is here, everything is ready for Ms. Plum's transfer."