Family Gathering
By PTBvisiongrrl
Rating: PG-13 for now (who knows where it will go?)
SPOILERS: none, really
WARNING: No Joe in sight right now
Standard disclaimer: I own nothing, only borrow, play with, and return. Except for Ranger. I'm never giving him back.
Chapter One
Ranger looked at the pictures again and cursed. The break-in at Steph's apartment had been a precise strike. The intruder hadn't taken anything, hadn't moved any item unnecessarily. The only missing items, which had taken Steph over a day to realize, were her hairbrush and a photo. But the intruder had left a present- a dead chicken in Steph's bed, with a bag of small beads and bones wrapped around its neck.
Ranger had not been there when Steph had discovered the break-in; if he had, he would have recognized immediately what was going on. The police- and Steph- were convinced that her notoriety (she had made the paper again last week, when another of her cars blew up outside Giovinicchi's) had attracted some new nut job's attention. A real psycho, they thought, based on the chicken carcass. Ranger, though, knew ritual magic when he saw it.
It was, after all, in his blood.
If only it were that simple, Ranger reflected, glancing back at the photographs again and then at Stephanie. How was he going to explain to her the truth of the situation? She'd never believe him. Hell, he hardly believed it, and he'd lived through enough to know that it was the truth. How to approach her?
Hey, Steph, there really are things that go bump in the night, and one of them wants you?
"Well, Ranger?" Steph asked. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame to wait for an answer.
Shit. "Do you trust me? Really trust me?" he asked her.
Puzzlement flooded her face. "Of course."
He took a deep breath. "We need to go see someone." The two sides of his life, so carefully kept secret, were about to collide. He reached for her hand and pulled her toward the door.
The small house was clean and well kept, which made it stand out from its surroundings. Steph had never been to this part of Trenton before, although Ranger seemed very familiar with it. He didn't even stop to knock on the door, just opened it and walked right in. Steph followed a bit more slowly, pausing in the living room as Ranger continued through another door.
Steph was momentarily taken aback, until she took a closer look at some photos on an end table. Unmistakable, despite the eighties hair, was Ranger in a high school graduation picture. Walking right into the house suddenly made a lot more sense, and Steph got excited. This wasn't the Batcave, but she'd bet anything that this was going to be almost as good.
Ranger emerged from what Steph assumed was a kitchen, judging from the brief glimpse she got through the swinging door. He was leading a small old lady behind him and a middle aged woman followed them both. He stopped in front of Steph and introduced them. "Mama, Abuelita, es Stephanie Plum. Steph, this is my mother, Isabel, and grandmother, Rosa."
Steph's jaw dropped, but she recovered her manners quickly, wanting to make a good impression. "It's very nice to meet both of you."
Ranger's mother smiled. "We've wanted to meet you for some time, Stephanie. Ric's talked about you for a very long time."
Steph's eyes got wider, and Ranger mentally cringed.
Ranger began to question the intelligence of this choice the minute the words of his mother's greeting left her lips. Steph's shock at being introduced to his double life tonight might pale in comparison to her shock at knowing that Ranger had told his mother about her. Ranger spoke in rapid Spanish to his mother, hoping Steph wouldn't catch any of it. "Ma! Why did you say that? She's got enough to deal with right now."
Ranger's mom shot him a look that Steph could understand, even if she didn't speak Spanish. Then his grandmother coughed, interrupting her daughter's dirty look . "Yes, dear, we've heard a great deal about you."
Ranger decided to cut this off here and now. "Steph, do you know what obeah is?"
A blank look met his gaze. Okay, maybe this was going to be harder than he thought. "Steph, it wasn't just any crazy that broke into your apartment. The things that he or she left- they are part of a ritual magic, a spell to cause you harm." He waited for her to respond.
Steph looked at him like he had three heads, and- given the risk-assessing, practical soldier he usually showed her- he couldn't blame her. "What are you talking about? You aren't serious, are you?"
Ranger looked toward his grandmother for help. "There are those who believe that magic exists. Even if you don't agree, that belief gives them power and can make them dangerous."
The look directed at his abuela was slightly more circumspect than the one he himself had been given, but still full of disbelief. Stephanie let the old woman continue, but she looked as if she would get up and run away at any moment.
"Ricardo brought you here because I am one of those who believes in magic. I am a bruja, a witch. I work to protect others, to use my power for good. Not all practitioners are so ethical; your burglar is one of the dark ones." Abuela settled next to Stephanie on the sofa, and Ranger took the other side of her. "Ricardo recognized the items that were stolen from you and the- well, what was left- and he called us."
Steph shook her head. "Ranger called you about my break-in?"
Ranger chose to speak up before Steph bolted. He could feel the fear and concern emanating from her. "This guy believes in this, even if you don't. We're using his beliefs against him."
Steph obviously considered his words. "So you brought me here for what? You could have told me this at your place. And I can't believe you just wanted me to meet your family."
The corner of Ranger's mother's mouth started to quirk up. Ranger headed it off. "If this guy is stalking you, I wanted him to realize that we know what he's up to. Abuela is well known, in certain circles, so he might back off for a while if he thinks she's taken you under her protection."
"Protection?"
Mama Isabel chuckled. "Trust my son to be so obtuse. You're here to receive a ritual blessing, in the hopes of buying enough time to find the dark one before he does you true harm."
Steph's panic began to bubble over. "I'm Catholic. I can't do this."
Ranger snorted. "And the last time you were in church? C'mon, Steph."
"Okay, I'm just creeped out," she admitted. She shifted in her seat. "This isn't a side of you I've ever seen, Ranger. Hell, never even suspected."
Ranger's resemblance to his mother became more pronounced when her eyebrow quirked up at that comment. "There is a lot you need to tell this woman about your life, Ricky. No wonder she kept going back to the cop."
Steph's mouth dropped and Ranger merely closed his eyes to count silently to ten. "Steph, will you allow Abuelita to bless you?"
"What's involved?" Steph managed to ask.
Abuelita jumped in and answered. "Not much. You just need to sit there and let me burn some incense around you as I pray. It will work better if you work up some belief in the ritual."
Ranger reached behind Steph and placed a hand on her neck, kneading tense muscles. "But you don't have to believe in it."
"Do you?" Steph asked him in a low voice.
Ranger gritted his teeth. Things had been going so well until he had seen those damn pictures this morning. "Yes."
"Okay," she answered in a small voice, meeting Abuelita Rosa's firm gaze.
Chapter Two
The ceremony was very brief, involving some quiet chanting in Spanish, which Ranger's mother translated for Stephanie, some candles, and a little incense. When she was finished, Abuelita Rosa closed her eyes and laid her hands on the top of Stephanie's head. "Go in peace and safety, mija."
Stephanie slowly rose and looked at Ranger for direction. He gave his grandmother a quick hug and his mother a peck on the cheek. "Gracias, Mama, Abuelita." Both women nodded at him, then turned their attention toward Steph.
She felt a bit awkward; she wasn't a touchy feely kind of girl, so she hoped they would not be offended at a finger wave instead of a hug. They seemed fine with it, and walked her and Ranger to the door, standing silently shoulder-to-shoulder behind the screen, a slightly duskier vision of her own mother and grandmother in their usual position when she left dinner.
Stephanie was very quiet during the blessing ceremony and leave-taking from the Manosos. Ranger assumed she was still in shock, because the Steph he knew would have been all over his mother and grandmother with questions. Instead, she stared straight ahead, absolutely silent. He spared her many side ways glances, never noting a change in her facial expression. So Ranger gave her time to process, until he pulled into the Haywood Street garage. Steph didn't even look up or realize where they were until Ranger said, "Stephanie?" softly a second time.
"Huh?" she mumbled, blinking slowly. "What? Where are we?"
Ranger grabbed her hand and rubbed at it absent-mindedly. "Babe, we're at the Rangeman office."
"Why are we here?" she asked.
Despite all the new information about him revealed today, he still didn't want to have to explain this. He didn't think that she was going to go for this plan, so he tried for misdirection and simplicity. "I'd appreciate it if you would stay here, until I can do a little more investigation into your burglar."
Steph's eyes widened at the request. It was unusual for Ranger to give her a choice, implied or real, in situations like this- and she swore that that had sounded like a request instead of an order. Still, she shook her head. "Not that I don't appreciate the concern, but I want to be in my own apartment." Close quarters with Ranger, for any reason, was not the best of ideas. She had decided, following the Slayer incident, that while she and Morelli were a disaster as a couple, she and "My-life-doesn't-lend-itself-to-relationships" Ranger would be worse than a cataclysm.
Ranger blew out a breath. He should have expected this, he knew, but he had hoped. "Steph, I know you do, but I don't think that it's safe right now. Can't you just give me a little bit of time to check things out?"
That look- stubborn and difficult- spread across her face. "It's not any more dangerous than usual. Can't you just put a man on me?"
"No," Ranger said, regretfully. "A man on you isn't going to solve this problem. It's not just your physical safety that I'm concerned about, Babe."
"What on earth are you taking about?" she asked, clearly confused.
Well, here goes. See if she was still talking to him after this, or thinking that he was simply insane. Even if she thought he had gone off the deep end and wanted nothing to do with him, he would find a way to keep an eye on her, magically if necessary. But magic was so impractical, when she could just be protected by convention means. Ranger started simply, "The Rangeman building, thanks to many different precautions, is secure against metaphysical as well as physical attacks."
"Huh?" she asked, still confused.
"Spells, magic, obeah, voodoo- whatever you want to call it." Ranger cringed at how he sounded to his own ears. "The building has protections against these things as well as stalkers. Spells won't pass these walls."
Stephanie looked dismissive. Despite her early agreement with the ceremony, she clearly still didn't believe in the things that Ranger himself did. "You really believe in this stuff, huh?"
Ranger nodded. "It's the way I was raised, and what I've seen in the world."
There were several minutes of silence as Steph considered his words before she answered him. "I can see why you might have kept this to yourself," Steph stated. "I'm not sure that I can believe in this stuff."
Ranger reached over her, unhooking her safety belt and opening her door. "I believe enough for the both of us, Babe."
Steph considered his words as he patiently waited for her to exit the vehicle. She gave up the fight rather easily, all things considered. Ranger should have suspected ulterior motives, but he was so relieved that he didn't. "So- am I kicking someone out of their apartment, or staying with you?"
Ranger swallowed his gut reaction- with me- and gave Steph a choice. "There's an apartment on the fourth currently empty, if you want it, or you can stay with me." He paused for a beat. "I'll loan you my sheets and some Bulgari if you want."
Blushing, Steph got out and approached Ranger. The stress and revelations of the day were getting to her, and she felt particularly vulnerable. "Seventh, then," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the elevator.
Chapter Three
Stephanie calmed a little on the elevator ride, but that probably had more to do with holding Ranger's hand than a sudden acceptance of magic. Ranger internally sighed; he had tried, for so long, to keep Steph out of his life and heart. Yes, he had protected her, taught her, helped her- but he always kept his distance. His abuela had told him months ago that she knew what he was doing, and that he was wrong. Ranger had ignored her, despite her insistence that if he and Stephanie were truly meant to be together, it would happen whether he wanted it to or not. Thinking over those words, he began to worry that by protecting her from his life, that he had actually put her at risk instead.
Abuela had a touch of the sight. Did she mean that, by keeping Steph at a distance that he had caused an incident like this- one where he couldn't hide what he was from her? And that if he had opened up to her, Steph would be safer now? The circular thoughts gave him a headache; it was one of the reasons he was glad that he was only a soldier in this battle, and didn't really get involved in the magic and its ramifications at all. He did what he was told, and tried not to think too hard about the metaphysical theory.
Sometime during his mental wandering, the elevator had opened to the seventh floor, and Stephanie was tugging on his arm. "Ranger," she questioned, her voice unsure. He had never lost track of his surroundings around her before.
"Sorry, Babe." He followed her, hitting the passkey on the way and automatically unlocking the door. "I was a little lost in thought."
Steph snorted. "You? Not aware? Throw it in with the magic, and I have to ask- who are you and what have you done with my Ranger?"
The words "my Ranger" made his heart skip a beat. If only, he spared a thought, she really meant that. "Babe, I have never lied to you, but-"
Rolling her eyes, Steph allowed Ranger to open the door for her and she walked past him. "You are the master of monosyllables. Do you mean to say that you haven't exactly- shared?"
"Yes, Babe. Lie of omission, then." Ranger tossed his keys to the sideboard and made his way to the intercom. Pressing six, he waited for Ella's voice before speaking. "Good evening, Ella. Dinner for two, and some kind of desert. Chocolate, I think."
Ella hid the surprise in her voice. 'Yes, Ranger. It will be ready in twenty minutes."
"Thank you." He disconnected, only to find Stephanie staring open mouthed at him. "What?" he asked a bit defensively.
"That was almost real phone manners. You actually ended the conversation!" She sounded shocked.
Ranger ignored her and proceeded to set the table, complete with wine glasses and a bottle. Motioning to a seat across for him, he waited until Stephanie sat down before doing so himself. He poured them both a half-glass of wine, sipped his, and then asked her an uncomfortable question. "If I'm so mysterious, and rude, and odd- why do you continue to associate with me, Babe?"
She paused a moment, and sipped her own wine. She considered her words. "I'm not sure. Despite all that- because, let's face it, you are cryptic and weird, and down right rude sometimes- there is still something that pulls me to you." She finished her statement with a long pull on the wine, and was rescued from any more pointed questions by the arrival of Ella.
"Stephanie!" Ella beamed. "How good to see you again, and much better than the last time."
Considering the last time Ella had seen her was the night of the Slayer incident, Steph certainly hoped that she looked better. "It's good to see you again, too. Ella."
Ella efficiently placed a few covered dishes in the center of the table, and a big chocolate frosted cake on the counter. "I just felt like baking today," she said in answer to Ranger's raised eyebrow at the desert. "Apparently, there was a reason." Ranger often wondered if his Aunt Ella didn't' have more than a tough of the sight as well.
The look in Stephanie's eyes at the sight of that cake made the effort worth it. Her nephew never appreciated her best work- her baking- but this girl, this girl was a joy to cook for. "If there's nothing else, Ranger, call when I can pick up the dishes."
The subtle dig from his aunt- she didn't want to just let herself in to retrieve the dishes and interrupt something- went uncommented on. "Okay," he answered a little grumpily. Steph shot him a look, but immediately begin to lift covered plates and sniff appreciatively. Ella gave her a smile on her way out.
"Ella likes you," Ranger commented wryly as Steph filled her plate.
"If that means I get chocolate cake, I'm glad." She began to eat, and- as usual- expressed her enthusiasm for food quite loudly. Ranger was thoroughly distracted from his own meal, which he left largely uneaten on his plate. Once a huge hunk of cake had been polished off- and his control stretched mightily thin- Steph noticed his apparent lack of appetite. "Aren't you hungry?"
Ranger pushed his plate away. "Not really," he said, folding his napkin and rising. He stumbled, suddenly light headed and faint. "Babe?" he asked, not really able to concentrate but noticing Steph was slumped in her chair. He had enough strength left to hit a 911 on the intercom system before blackness claimed him
Ranger woke up first, with Tank looming over him, gun in hand. "Ric?" Tank asked, lending Ranger a hand to pull himself up from the floor where he had landed.
Shaking his head, Ranger tried to clear it and remember how the hell he had ended up on the floor. When it hit him all at once, he whirled around and searched for Stephanie. Tank noticed his agitation, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Bombshell is in your bedroom. Lester put her in there; she's still unconscious."
"How long have I been out?" Ranger asked, suddenly unsure of the passage of time.
"About fifteen minutes since you hit the alarm." Tank crossed his arms and stared at Ric. "You should probably sit down and have some orange juice or something until you fully recover."
That comment clicked. "Recover? What the hell hit me and Steph?" He did, in fact, sit down. "This place is supposed to be safe from magic. What got through?"
Tank shook his massive head. "Don't know yet. Bobby thinks that the spell didn't actually get through- just sort of the aftershocks. You went out because the building protections are tied directly to you; Bombshell because it was directed right at her."
"Do we know this for a fact?" Ranger reached for a glass and headed toward the refrigerator for some orange juice. Magic usage and attack had effects a lot like low blood sugar; too extreme, and you could lapse into something like a diabetic coma. Something minor, and a quick shot of sugar would fix you up. The fact that Steph was still out worried him a little, which Tank immediately picked up on.
"Lester put her out for a bit, once he was sure that she was okay." Ranger's dark expression, indicating his disagreement, was headed off. "Lester thought that the best way to preserve a trace to the person casting the spell was to keep her calm. Which she was NOT, on her own." The inflection told Ranger that Steph was having some more acceptance problems, and Tank's next statement told him just how badly. "She insisted she was going to leave, and to hell with your crappy magical protection."
Ranger chuckled. That was Steph. If she was that ornery, she was okay. And he had a little time until she came to; Lester was good with subtle sleep spells. "I think we need to talk, the whole team, and I think I need my Abuela in on it, too."
"Shit," Tank whistled. "Breaking out the big guns. Bombshell must have majorly pissed someone off this time."
Ranger nodded. "Appears that way. Get the guys, and I'll call my grandmother. Twenty minutes, here."
Tank raised an eyebrow. Ranger answered the unspoken question. "I don't want to leave Steph alone."
Tank nodded, and left. Ranger lifted the phone and dialed with a heavy heart.
