Always There

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, but am grateful to JE for inventing them for us to play with. Unlike JE, I am not making any money from them either

A/N: This is my first JE fanfic and I'm extremely nervous about posting it! Many thanks to the lovely JazMitch for all her encouragement. This piece is dedicated to the wonderful Rangersbabe10, who got me reading JE in the first place – thank you Babe!

The corridor was quiet, the only sounds coming from the nurses' station. He moved silently towards the room at the end of the corridor; the one they kept for the most seriously ill.

He had been trawling through paperwork when the call came in. Bomber's tracker shows her at St Francis. Immediately, he called her cell 'phone. Babe hated hospitals so something reasonably serious had to have taken her there. She hadn't answered, but that was fair enough, as the things weren't allowed in there anyway. The upside was that her tracker was still actually functioning so her car was in one piece. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd have to have taken a skip to the hospital.

However, when the tracker was still there three hours later, he began to be concerned and by that evening concern had turned to worry. The ER wasn't that busy and besides Steph always knew someone that would get her through quickly. No, something was wrong. He called again and once more, it went straight to voicemail. The same connections that always got Steph seen quickly were the very things that would prevent him from calling and pretending to be a family member, so he'd send a couple of guys to see if everything was alright. No, forget that, he'd go himself.

Going to the hospital reception he was about to ask for Steph when he spotted Mary Lou, Steph's best friend. It was her who told him that Edna had been taken seriously ill and that the whole family had been in and out all day. It didn't look good.

So here he was, picking his way through the hospital towards his Babe. He knew there was nothing he could do to help but he wanted to show support – he knew what Edna meant to Steph.

As soon as he approached the room she turned around, her hand at the back of her neck. Jumping up, she kissed her grandmother on the forehead and walked quietly to the door. As soon as she was outside, she was in his arms. Not a word passed between them. She clung on to him as though she were trying to drain him of every ounce of strength he possessed and he held her tightly giving her whatever she needed.

It was the sound of approaching footsteps that finally broke them apart. Steph looked past Ranger and stiffened as Edna's doctor walked towards them. He gave her a kindly smile and gestured towards the door.

"I have your grandmother's test results Miss Plum," he said simply.

"So you know for sure what's wrong with her now?"

"We do. Shall we go in and then I can explain everything to the whole family and hopefully answer any questions?"

As the doctor glanced towards little room, he hesitated.

"Miss Plum, I see that your niece is also with you. It may be…best if the adult members of the family heard what I have to say first…"

Steph paled and slowly nodded as the implications of his carefully phrased words sank in.

"Um, yes…." she started, biting back the tears.

"I'll take her."

Steph looked up at Ranger. She began to protest but he gently placed his fingertip over her lips and held her gaze.

"I'll take her," he repeated softly.

Steph nodded. Taking a deep breath and standing up as straight as she could she strode confidently to the door and went in. Ten minutes later, Ranger and Mary Alice were sat in the hospital cafeteria, he with a bottle of water and she with some untouched milk and uneaten cookies. She hadn't said a word since Steph had led her out.

"My granny Edna is going to die isn't she?" she said suddenly, her voice small and tired.

"I don't know," he replied simply.

The girl looked up at him, accusation in her eyes.

"Honestly, MA, I don't know. I won't lie to you. I really don't know, but it seems that Edna is seriously ill."

MA nodded slightly. "Auntie Steph said that you never lie. Adults always tell kids not to lie but they do it all the time. Thanks for not lying to me."

She picked up a cookie and started to nibble on it. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Mr Ranger? Can I tell you secret? Auntie Steph said that you're really good at keeping secrets."

Ranger leaned back in his chair, not sure he liked where this was going. If someone was hurting this child, they'd pay. He had to play this carefully.

"Well, Auntie Steph is right. But you know MA some secrets have to be told, so I can't promise – but I will promise to listen and if I can, keep your secret."

Mary Alice thought about that for a moment before she continued. She leaned forward, her voice just above a whisper.

"I don't want to get married. I want to travel. I want to be a nurse – in the army. But I haven't told my mom, she have a cow, but I told Auntie Steph and Granny Edna."

Ranger blew out a mental breath. "What did they say?"

Mary Alice's eyes lit up. "They thought it was a brilliant idea and told me I could do whatever I wanted to, that it was up to me. Granny Edna said that my mom and grandma would pitch a fit, but I shouldn't let that stop me. Auntie Steph said she'd stick by me and that I couldn't let what my mom wanted rule my life, but said I had to make sure I got good grades in school."

"Your Auntie Steph is right," he agreed. "Her and your Granny Edna talk a lot don't they?"

MA took a gulp of the milk. "Yes, they do. Auntie Steph and Granny are great. They talk about you all the time."

Ranger raised an eyebrow. Mary Alice giggled and took a big breath, clearly warming to her subject.

"Aunt Steph says that you're her best friend and that you're always helping her but when Granny Edna asks if she's your boyfriend she says that you don't do relationships. What does that mean Mr Ranger?"

Ranger took a swig of his water. How the hell was he going to explain this.

"It's complicated adult stuff MA, don't worry about it."

Mary Alice gave him an eye roll that Steph would be proud of.

"That's what adults always say when they don't want to tell kids something," she pouted.

"But in this case it's true. My life is very different to Auntie Steph's and because of that I can't be her boyfriend," he replied.

Mary Alice thought about that for a moment.

"But do you love her?" she asked.

"Yes, I do, but sometimes love isn't always the answer. Sometimes other stuff happens."

Mary Alice suddenly stared at her milk, a frown darkening her pretty features.

"Yes, I know. Like my daddy. He said he loved us, but he went away and left us and took all the money."

She looked up at Ranger.

"But you have never left Auntie Steph have you? I mean, you're always giving her cars and she sometimes works for you and I know that you help her bring in her skips. And she says you never lie and always check up on her. So if you do all that for her and you love her, why can't you be her boyfriend?"

Before he could answer a third voice interrupted the conversation.

"Hey MA, your mom's here for you now. You can go back and see Granny Edna."

Mary Alice jumped up and hugged Ranger quickly before running back to her mother.

Joe sat in the seat MA had just vacated.

"Very perceptive kid," he started.

Ranger said nothing, his face blank.

"She makes a good point though," continued Joe. "I mean, why aren't you Steph's boyfriend?"

"Last I heard you were – that may have something to do with it."

"Bullshit! We both know you have no scruples about poaching whatsoever."

"True – but Steph does," countered Ranger.

Joe took a deep breath.

"Ok, that's good to know. Still, I'm surprised word hasn't gotten to you that Steph and I are done."

Ranger leaned back lazily in his chair, squaring a look at Morelli.

"I've been away for a couple of months. Besides, you and Steph are always done – for how long this time?"

Joe smiled humourlessly. He wasn't one for spilling his guts any more than the man in front of him was, but he loved Steph and knew what he'd been suspecting for years – that she was in love with Ranger, and he, her – was true.

"This time it's for good. We actually had a mature, adult talk. Steph and I were talking about marriage again when we realised that she was coming out in hives and I was putting off making a date. When we actually sat down and talked it through we could see that it was our parents that wanted us to get married. They had worn us down. The more we talked the more the reality of the situation came through. I want to marry and have kids and much as I love Steph, I know that being married to her would drive me crazy. She's a force of nature. She's her own person however much she tries not to be – she's got too much of Edna in her. God knows, she'd give me an ulcer within a year!"

Joe thought he saw Ranger's lip tip slightly at the edges, but he was still sitting there, so he decided to push on.

"Look, truth is that Stephanie Plum has spoilt me for any other Burg girl. So, I'm moving on. There was a promotion opportunity come up in NYC, I went for it and got it. My Captain's pissed as hell, but it's right for me. So, end of the month, I'm gone."

Ranger took another gulp of water.

"Steph know?" he asked.

"Yeah, she knows. She's happy for me."

The two men sat in silence for a few moments.

"Look Manoso, much as I think you're a loose canon and that your moral code is definitely grey, I respect you and your skill set. You may be the best at all that macho, cloak and dagger bullshit, but I'm just a simple guy. I can't do all this hearts and flowers crap, but this I know. Steph loves you. No, she's in love with you. I know you love her – no-one would keep bleeding money like you do for less. And for god's sake a twelve year old can see it. Well, let's see. I'll be gone in a few weeks, so you won't have to poach. There'll be no excuses for you not to step up. The question is, will you?"

"It's not that simple Morelli, you know that," started Ranger quietly. "You're not an idiot, you can guess where I go when I have to disappear for months at a time. You make enemies in my line of work. I can't – I won't expose Steph to that. Bad enough that I could have lost Steph and Julie to that psycho Scrog and then there was the mad bastard from my old unit. I won't put her in that position."

"I get that, I do," Joe answered, "but that was two instances Ranger, two. Now try to count up how many crazies Steph has collected on her own? Man, you're small fry compared to the trouble she can get in to all by herself! Your argument just doesn't hold up."

Ranger remained passive. Joe pushed on.

"Look, you're not after a conventional relationship and neither is she. Who gives a crap what you call it, how you run it or what anyone else thinks about it? But you do love her and if you really wanted to, you could give it a shot with her. Hell Manoso, you must be the only man in the world who isn't running towards a hot woman with a marriage phobia!"

Joe calmed himself and stared at Ranger's blank face.

"Just do me a favour. Be careful with her. Steph's got a heart of gold and yes she's tough and resilient – but not where you're concerned. You have the power to crush her. You may not see it, but it's true."

With that, he got up and walked away.

Ranger sat and thought over the conversation. The ball really was in his court now. What had Morelli said? 'If you really wanted to, you could give it a shot with her'?

Is that what he really wanted? Could he bring her in to his life? Would she want too? According to Mary Alice and Morelli and even Edna, the answer was yes. And Morelli was right; they could have whatever relationship they wanted and define it however they decided.

Relationship. There was that word again. When he'd said to Steph that he didn't 'do' relationships, he'd meant it in the traditional sense. He couldn't be the regular date –leading to marriage – kind of a guy. But then, she'd never said she wanted that had she? And actually, if he looked at it from the outside, like from where Mary Alice or Morelli viewed it, he had been in a relationship with Stephanie Plum for a long time – just not a typical one.

Somehow, he found his way back to Edna's room. Once again, Steph instinctively knew he was there. Slipping quietly out, she came over to him, her eyes puffy and red.

"Hi," she sniffed.

"Babe."

"Thanks for looking after MA, I really appreciate it."

"Any time Babe."

Steph stood awkwardly, staring at the floor. He pulled her in to his arms and she sobbed. When she could finally begin to speak she pulled away.

"We thought she had a simple, chest infection, but this morning she couldn't breath, so I bought her here. They said she had pneumonia, but her chest x-ray showed something else – a large shadow on her lung. She has lung cancer Ranger."

Once again, she broke into sobs and he pulled her close, letting her get as much out as she needed.

As she calmed he kissed the top of her head and wrapped his strong arms around her.

"I'll be here for you, whatever you need. Always. No price Babe, no price."