Author:Tiina
Spoilers: Through EoT
POV: Joe
A Turning Point
He wasn't sure just when it happened. Maybe things had really changed during the time she was in hiding from the Slayers. Although she hadn't been able to say 'I love you' even then.
She'd taken a break from him after that. He'd kept track of her enough to know that she wasn't seeing him, though. He hadn't been that worried. After what she'd been through, she deserved a little space. And in truth, he hoped that time to think about her ordeal would force her to make changes in her life.
Meeting her outside the bakery, he felt that every dream he had about them was about to come true. She'd quit bounty hunting. She was looking for a nice, normal, safe job.
When she'd arrived for dinner with another car shot and beaten up, he'd kept calm. No need to blow it now, not when she was giving him everything he wanted.
When she'd moved in after he'd broken his leg, he thought things were finally going to work out. Except she was distant. Not cold, she could never be that. Just...they were roommates and bedmates, but not a couple. At least, she wasn't acting like they were a couple.
They were in Valerie's wedding together, but even in the midst of the planning, there was no hint that someday that would be them. No wistfulness, not even panic. As if she didn't consider it a possibility anymore.
And the normal, safe jobs were one disaster after another. One job she never even started before she was fired. She got one workplace burned to the ground, and on another her car exploded with her boss in it.
Of course, he had to come to her rescue. He'd kept calm, though. Steph would be in the office, and everyone knew he'd rather be out on the streets. And since she'd picked up another psycho stalker, he'd have to admit that she'd be safer there than any other workplace.
And she seemed happier, suddenly. He wondered every time she left the house if she really liked the job that much, or was it working with him that made her so eager to start her day.
And of course the gifts continued. She felt guilty about the truck during the Slayers mess, and that was just a loan. No guilt about the gift of the Ducati. Just appreciation.
He searched his memory, but if there was one moment in time that was the turning point, the point that he'd lost her, he couldn't see it. He wondered if she even realized that she'd made a choice.
She may not have decided on Ranger, not yet, but he was fairly sure that she'd decided against him. Maybe it was his turn to get a little distance. Making a decision, he picked up the phone.
"Cupcake? It's me. Listen, I'm not going to be able to make it for dinner with your family. I'll be out of town on assignment for a few weeks."