Manny Reasons
SapphireJ
Chapter1

Guess what? Yep, you guessed it... It's Manny Monday time!

This is a Manny/Steph story. If you don't like to read about her with anyone other than Ranger or Joe (Which I will NEVER write), then hit your back button and move on. You've been warned. Ranger will not be hurt in this story, he will have very little to do in here. This will be updated once a week for the time being. They are not mine, but I do so love to borrow them from time to time ;)

She sat there and watched her latest POS burn. The cops had already taken her statement; luckily, it was Eddie and Carl who had that job. She really hadn't expected Joe to show up; they called it quits for good two weeks prior. He had already been seen around town with a new school teacher.

She felt his presence two seconds before she heard him.

"Babe." She knew that one meant what happened? Ranger sat down and put an arm around her. "You okay, Babe?"

Stephanie nodded and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Need a ride?" She nodded again. Ranger stood up and offered her his hand. They headed towards his Cayenne, and she saw Tank, Lester, Bobby, Manny, and Binkie standing there.

Lester went over and hugged her. "You okay, Beautiful?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered into his chest.

Ranger helped her into the Cayenne and said goodbye to the guys. He drove to her place in silence, and when they pulled into her parking lot, he cut the engine and walked her up. After making sure the dust bunnies were all tucked in, he sat down on the couch next to her. "Want to tell me what happened?"

She shrugged before answering. "James Oden, my latest skip. He didn't want to go so he threw a Molotov cocktail in my car and took off on foot. I chased him anyway, and he's on his way back to jail."

Ranger tucked a curl behind her ear and ran his finger down her jaw line. "Proud of you, Babe." He sat back and put his arm around her shoulders. "I need to talk to you."

Stephanie leaned into him and sighed. "What's up?"

Ranger turned to face her. "I'm leaving for a mission. I don't know how long I'll be gone."

"Why are you telling me? You've never told me before." She started to get worried. "You're coming back, right?"

Ranger shrugged, "I've never had enough notice to tell you before."

"Oh." Stephanie looked down at her hands to avoid his eyes.

Ranger tilted her head up to look at him. "Babe, I want you to come work for RangeMan fulltime."

"What?" Stephanie looked shocked; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why?"

"You have the best instincts of anyone I know. You know our search programs, and you find connections my guys never find." He took a breath. "You would have a company car, a partner, full benefits, access to the gym, the gun range, and best of all, Ella."

She smiled at the mention of Ella. "Who would my partner be? I can't imagine any of the guys volunteering for that."

"Babe, any of the guys would love to partner with you. They always fight over 'Bombshell Duty' as they call it. You can pick any of them."

"But most of them already have partners," she told him. "I don't want to break that up."

"Steph, you can pick and ask. If he says no, you can pick another one. Don't worry; we change up partners every now and again. I like to make sure my guys can work together, no matter who they are with. We all have to trust each other."

"When do you need to know?" She wanted to think this through and make the right decision for her.

"You can tell Tank anytime. It is an open offer." Ranger thought a minute before he continued, "I'd also like to ask you to move into the RangeMan building. There isn't an open apartment on four at the moment, but Binkie is moving out in a few weeks; you could have his place. Or if you feel more comfortable, you could move into seven."

"No!" she all but screamed. "I can't move into your apartment. That is your space."

Sighing, Ranger told her, "Steph, I probably won't be using it for quite a while, a few months at least. You can move in there. You've lived there before."

She shook her head. "That was when I needed protection and had nowhere else to go. I won't move into your personal space. I'll wait until Binkie moves out."

Ranger did his almost smile. "Does that mean you'll work for RangeMan?"

Stephanie nodded, even though somehow she felt tricked into answering. "Yes, I'd love to work for RangeMan; however, I will not sit in an office all day every day. I need to be in the field as well. And I cannot leave Lula stranded. I'll need to work something out with Vinnie."

"You and Tank can take care of that. Thank you, Babe. I really appreciate this." Ranger leaned over and kissed her softly. "I need to get going." He looked at her smiled, "Can I offer you a ride to RangeMan to get your new vehicle?"

Smiling, she answered, "What vehicle do I get?" as she tried to run through them all in her mind.

"You can have the Cayenne if you want." Ranger watched as her face went from amused to worried.

"I can't take that! I'll get it blown up! Are you nuts?"

"Steph, it's replaceable. Don't worry about it. If you don't want to drive it all the time, then we'll find a different vehicle for you, and you can drive the Cayenne until your new one comes in."

She sighed and agreed to drive the Cayenne for now. "But I want a different vehicle as soon as you can get it. I don't want to damage this one."

Ranger chuckled and led her out the door and down to the Cayenne.

They pulled into the RangeMan garage just as Manny and Binkie were coming off the elevator. Binkie smiled at Steph while Manny came over and hugged her.

"Are you sure your okay, Wifey?" Manny asked with worry in his voice.

Stephanie laughed at the nickname. She wondered if she'd ever live that down.

"No, you won't. I'm going to call you Wifey from now on. You earned that name, and I happen to like calling you that," Manny told her as he tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Shit, that was out loud, huh?" Her face was red as she hung her head.

"Yes, that was out loud. Seriously though, are you okay?"

Stephanie looked at Manny and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I'll be seeing more of you guys."

Binkie and Manny looked at her with confusion.

"I'll be working here full time starting tomorrow."

Manny picked her up and swung her around. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Ranger asked me, and I think it's a good idea. Now I just need to find a partner."

Manny put her back down and took her hand in his. "Steph, I'd be honored to be your partner if you let me."

Stephanie looked at him and shook her head. "I'm sorry; I don't think I heard you right. I thought you just said you wanted to be my partner."

Binkie, Ranger, and Manny laughed. "Yes, Wifey. I'd like to be your partner."

"But…I thought Binkie was your partner." Steph looked at Binkie and saw him nod his head.

"Steph, I am Manny's partner, but only for two more weeks. I'm moving to Atlanta."

"Why?"

Binkie shrugged and smiled, "My wife got a job there, and we can't pass up the offer. It's an excellent move for her career."

Manny looked at Stephanie with begging eyes. "So, what do you say, Steph? Can we be partners?"

"I think that would be great. Plus, this will give me two weeks to ease into the position and have Binkie show me some things as well before he leaves."

Stephanie looked over at Ranger and saw the smirk on his face. "You knew about this, didn't you?" He nodded. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

He stepped forward and took her hand. "I wanted the decision to be yours. The guys all knew I was going to ask you to work here. They all wanted first dibs on being your partner, but when Manny mentioned he'd be the one without a partner, they all knew he was going to ask first. I didn't want to take that opportunity away from him."

She looked at Ranger, "Thank you for the job." She then turned to Binkie and Manny. "Thank you for the opportunity to have a partner I know I'll be able to trust."

Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Lester, Tank, and Bobby stepped off. "Welcome aboard, Bombshell," they yelled.

Stephanie was passed from one Merry Man to the other. When she got back to the beginning of the line, Ranger smiled. "Alright you guys. Get back to work. I need to go grab my gear for the mission. Tank, get Steph set up with everything she needs. She'll be driving the Cayenne until she gets something different."

Ranger pulled Steph into a hug and rubbed her back. "I need to get my stuff together and get ready to leave. My plane takes off in two hours. Don't go crazy while I'm gone."

She kissed him gently on the lips. "Don't get shot."

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