Making in Through the Rain
By Misha

Disclaimer- I don't own Stephanie Plum or any of the other characters (though I wish I owned Ranger). They belong to the incredibly talented Janet Evanovich and I'm just borrowing them. I'm not making any money off this, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes- I wrote this as a response to my beta's random challenges. She comes up with random combinations and I use them. For this one I had to use Tank, Spring, a divorce, photos, the colour red, and a line about not having children. I'd love to hear what you think, so feedback is very much appreciated. This is not Morelli friendly, not even remotely. I've been writing too many Cupcake-ish stories and had to go right a true Babe fic and ended up making this anti-Morelli in all it's Babe glory, oops. Any way, I hope you enjoy it!

Pairings- Ranger/Stephanie, Morelli/Stephanie.

Summery- Tank reflects on the worst period of his life. Babe fic, not Morelli friendly.

Spoilers- All fifteen books, I guess.

Rating- PG-13

If you asked Tank later on about what was the worst period of his life, he wouldn't answer about any of the missions he'd been on or the years he'd lived on the street, fighting for survival.

No, strangely enough, it was the forty-two months between the day Bombshell walked into Ranger's office and told him she was marrying Morelli and the day, she came back, her divorce now final.

It was bad because Tank missed Stephanie, because he thought she deserved better than Morelli (who Tank had never liked), because he thought that Ranger and Stephanie could have been good for each other and most of all because Ranger became a nightmare to be around.

Never more so than when he found out that Morelli was screwing around behind Stephanie's back with Terri Gilmen. Tank had had to stop him from killing the cop (though he'd felt pretty murderous himself) and yet, when he'd asked if Ranger was going to tell Stephanie, he'd been given a flat no.

"She wouldn't believe it from me." Ranger said flatly, his face making it clear that there'd be no further discussion.

Tank really started to wonder what had said during that last conversation between Ranger and Bombshell, but he knew better to ask.

Still, he thought that she deserved to know the truth and knew from talking to Lula, she'd need proof. So, feeling like the scum of the Earth, Tank had had a couple of the guys follow Morelli and take pictures and then Tank had mailed those pictures to Stephanie.

He'd hated doing it, but he figured that someday she'd be thankful. Not that he ever intended to tell her that he sent them, of course.

Still, the pictures had done the trick and Stephanie had moved out of Morelli's and in with Mary Lou right away. The confrontation had been loud, angry and the talk of the Burg for weeks. Stephanie had quickly gone back to the Bonds office, but it had been months before she came back to Haywood. Not until after the divorce was final.

It was April when she finally came back and it had been a rainy, miserable April. Tank, for one, was thrilled when Bombshell stepped off the elevator, and so were the other Rangeman, but Ranger's face was like a storm cloud. He thundered into his office and she followed him, her face just as intense and angry.

There was a lot of noise coming from there, though the men all tried not too listen--some things are just too personal to be overheard. Finally the noise stopped and, after a few minutes of silence, Tank went to investigate (just to check that they hadn't killed each other) and peered through Ranger's office window to see them wrapped tight in each other's arms. Tank backed away with a smile on his face--things were finally back the way they were meant to.

It wasn't that easy, of course. Stephanie had a lot of baggage from her divorce and Morelli was making things difficult for her and Ranger was still Ranger and had a lot of commit issues, but... Stephanie started coming by Haywood more often and by summer she was pretty much living there.

"Welcome back, Bombshell." Tank told her one day in July. "We missed you."

"Thanks Tank." She said softly and then paused. "You sent the picture didn't you?"

Tank was surprised, he'd never imagined he'd be found out. "How did you guess?" He asked after a moment.

"Ranger said he didn't send it and... I knew that you were only ones with the resources who would care enough, so I figured it had to be you." Stephanie said softly. "Thank you. I needed that..."

Tank hadn't expected to be thanked, after all it had been a cruel thing to do, though his motives were pure. "I just thought you deserved better than Morelli." He told her quietly.

"I"m glad someone thought so." Stephanie said bitterly. "My mother's still furious with me for leaving Joe."

Tank had a lot of words for Ellen Plum and none of them were pleasant.

"I'm just glad I found out about Joe before we had kids." Stephanie said with a shudder. "I would have hated to bring children into that marriage."

Tank had to agree that that would have been a disaster, since children deserve better than a broken home or a marriage that only exists for the kids. They deserved to be raised in a happy, loving environment. The kind that Tank had never had but had always wanted.

"Did you do it for me or for Ranger?" Stephanie asked after a moment.

"Both." Tank answered promptly. "You deserved better than Morelli and Ranger was miserable without you, even if he never would have admitted it. I'm just really glad your back."

Stephanie just smiled and squeezed his hand, understanding that any other physical gesture would make him uncomfortable and went on her way.

That was the only time that Tank and Stephanie ever talked around the photos or her marriage, but things changed between them after that and they became friends and Stephanie became one of the guys.

A year and a half after Stephanie's return to Haywood, Ranger popped the question and they decided to get married. Two years to the day of her return, they became man and wife.

Tank was a happy man that April day as he stood as Ranger's best man. He'd never met two people more suited for each other than Ranger and Stephanie and he was glad to have been able to play a small part in their happy ending.

As Tank stood there, watching Stephanie and Carlos say their vows, absently fiddling with the red boutonniere on his tuxedo, he realized that the worse was over and that the best was only yet to come. It was spring again and the rain had washed away all the pain and agony and brought a new beginning for Ranger and Stephanie and Tank couldn't have been happier if it was his wedding day.

- The