Chapter 1

He sat in a dark corner of the bar nursing his drink. He'd been there most of the night; actually he'd been there for most of the past several nights. Funny, he hadn't drank this much since he'd been a reckless adolescent. And it was all over a woman. He expelled air and downed the rest of his drink. This was exactly why he didn't do relationships; women always got into your head, fucked you up, and then left you.

'Except you were the one who left her' echoed that annoying little voice in the back of his head. Well, he hadn't exactly left her. But he'd pushed her so far away she was never coming back. His fucking male pride had made sure of that. He'd been so afraid of rejection, he'd wanted to beat her to the punch, end their friendship on his terms. He wished desperately he could do it over, and this time he'd beg her to pick him. 'Too late moron' chanted in his thoughts.

More alcohol, he decided. He walked to the bar and made eye contact with bartender. He nodded and handed him another drink. The fact that he didn't even have to ask for what he wanted attested to just how much he'd drank since he'd cut off contact with Stephanie. Fucking pathetic, he thought.

He turned to go back to his seat and stopped dead. Morelli was seated at the end of the bar looking much the same as Ranger felt. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be at home with Steph celebrating their impending engagement? Morelli's eyes lifted from his own drink and met Ranger's.

"What the fuck are you doing here Manoso?" Morelli slurred. "Shouldn't you be at home banging the love of my life?" Jesus, Morelli had serious head start on blood alcohol content, he was already using phrases like 'the love of my life'.

"I could ask you the same question Morelli," Ranger replied folding his arms across his chest. His common sense was telling him to walk away, but the alcohol was suggesting a less intelligent course of action. And for the first time in years, he told his common sense to take a flying leap. He wanted this confrontation. More than that though, he needed it. His frustrations had been building up for a while and he figured that this would be just the thing to help him vent.

"She told me no." This information hit Ranger like a punch in the stomach. He had already steeled himself for the inevitable. Time after time she had gone back to Morelli, so when he had finally proposed; for real this time; Ranger knew he was too late. He had lost Steph and there wasn't a thing in the world he could do about it. So rather than waiting for her to deliver the final crushing blow, he decided to make it easier for her. 'Liar' that annoying little voice sang out, 'you made it easier for you, and made sure you left her before she had a chance to leave you'. That was true, but also he knew putting pressure on her wasn't right, not when she had a chance for something more with Morelli that he himself could never offer her. Yet, here they both were. Ranger couldn't help baiting him a little, he despised the man for having what he wanted.

"What'd do Morelli? Slip up with Gilman? Give her more ultimatums?" Morelli flinched a little at the last one. Figures.

"It's none of your business. She'll cool off and it'll go back to business as usual. Which doesn't include you anymore does it?" He leaned forward slightly, knowing he'd hit his mark. Since Ranger had walked out of her apartment he hadn't spoken to her once. What really cut him deep is that she hadn't even tried to get in touch with him, even though he'd insinuated not to. Not that he would have answered her phone calls if she had tried. He'd known eventually her 'maybe' to the proposal was going to become a 'yes', so what was the point?

"Fuck off Morelli. I backed of so she could be happy, not so you can fuck up again. Even with my help you can't keep her. Next time, I'm not sending her back to you." It was true. If Ranger ever had another chance with Steph, he wasn't going to blow it. He hadn't known how fucking miserable he was going to be without her.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Morelli asked dangerously.

"Exactly what I said. I will not send her back to you again. You lost your chance," Ranger smiled smugly at Morelli. He didn't really expect to have another shot at Stephanie, but he liked goading Morelli. In turn, Morelli was finished with this conversation. He lunged at Ranger, intent on beating his face to a pulp. Ranger, being far less drunk than Morelli, stepped off to the side and let him sail past.

"I knew you'd been with her you son of bitch," Morelli said, standing unsteadily. "What did you do to make her run screaming back to me?" This was the final straw, both sides were guessing a little to close to the truth. They went down in a tangle of angry alpha-male.

They fought for several more minutes until a sharp blow to Ranger's shoulder brought him back to reality, followed by a soft umph from Morelli. Ranger rolled off the top of him and looked straight into a pair of angry blue eyes. Both men realized at the same time that Stephanie was standing furiously above them, hands on hips, her red FMPs poised to deliver another set of kicks if they continued fighting.

"Cupcake…" Morelli moaned sitting up on the floor.

"No!" Stephanie said, in a low angry whisper. "Don't you cupcake me. And you!" she said pointing a finger at Ranger who still lay on the dirty floor, "Don't you dare Babe me. Do you know I've had twelve phone calls telling me I needed to get down to this bar right away? How long have you been at it? Long enough for me to get dressed and drive over here at least."

"Listen, Steph-" Morelli tried again.

"No! I'm done with both of you," she pointed a finger at Ranger. "You're an asshole who can't commit, and won't even talk to me, and you," she said narrowing her gaze at Morelli, "are a lying son of bitch who loves me as long as I do what you want me to. Well guess what? That's it. You can have each other for all I care. Enjoy!" she flipped them both off and stomped towards the door.

Morelli and Ranger's eyes met. They both stood up quietly and dusted themselves off. "I'm going to pursue her Morelli," Ranger said, levelly.

Morelli snorted and then gave a little laugh. "Yeah, I am too."

"Then I suggest we set down some terms of engagement," Ranger replied, folding his arms across his chest. Morelli nodded silently. And so it began.

Soo...I'm fairly new to this whole fanfiction thing. This is my first attmempt at a stephanie plum fic as well. Worth continuing? If so, I'll need a beta, any volunteers? If not, consider this a strange one-shot. If I continue, it'll eventually be a babe fic.