Author's Note: Well ladies…. Welcome to the sequel! Sorry to keep you waiting so long! This last couple weeks of school has been brutal and I wanted to work on my other FF story, There Forever, For the Cupcakes since I gave the HEA in Since the Beginning to Ranger and Steph. So anyways- here we are! Please please tell me what you think… and I certainly hope this chapter proves to be worth the wait!

Disclaimer: JE's characters- My version.

OoooOoooOoooOoooO

Ranger POV:

It had been 10 long months since I had been home and the first thing I wanted to do was see my babe. This wasn't my first government assignment and certainly not the longest, but every day I was away from Stephanie felt like a lifetime was passing me by. While I was away my only contact to her was through Tank, my right hand man, I wanted more than anything to talk to Stephanie but I couldn't. Sure I faced danger every day doing what I do at RangeMan- but an assignment was different- I couldn't lose focus or change mentality. Most of the times that was never an issue seeing as my attitude was consistently that of a ranger. With Steph though it was different- she brought out a completely different side of me, and while I loved it- I knew the distraction talking to her could cause me to make a mistake that would keep me from never returning to her. After my return and closing up all ends of the mission and being officially released from my mission I had only one destination in mind.

But when I reached the outside of the building my meeting was held in and saw Tank with a look on his face that looked far more serious than usual- I knew we would be sidetracked.

"Here to give me a ride?" The stress lines around his eyes tightened as did his arms that were crossed over his chest.

Tank shook his head, no longer looking at my face as he spoke. "We need to talk."

"Later, I have somewhere I need to be right now."

"This won't wait." I wanted to listen to what he was saying and reclaim the duties I had left him in charge of, but this was no ordinary circumstance. I was so close to Stephanie and there was nothing that was going to keep me from going to her.

"Well it's going to have to." My arms crossed over my chest, mirroring his stance and slowly the stern expression changed into one that told there was more to the reason was keeping me from her.

"It's about, Stephanie." I could feel my hands tighten into fists.

"What happened." It wasn't a question- it was a demand.

"We'll tell you back at RangeMan." Reluctantly my first thoughts shot to Morelli, maybe she changed her mind and in my absence I lost her to the cop. Tank's head shook back and forth, easily reading where my thoughts lingered.

"It's not about him. Just come back to RangeMan so we can fill you in."

"Fine."

The ride to the office was quiet but it wasn't hard to see that Tank was trying really hard to keep a straight face. Something wasn't right, but what worried me most was I had talked to him just about two weeks ago and he made no mention of an issue with Stephanie. My patience was quickly wearing out- what if I was just sitting here unaware of an issue and she was in trouble. Maybe it wasn't the cop- but what if someone else had won her heart. Or worse, what if something terrible had happened to little Aly, this not knowing thing was absolutely killing me. I paid little attention to the familiar roads back to RangeMan it didn't seem much had changed but a persistent gnawing at the pit of my stomach told me everything had changed.

We pulled into the underground lot and filed into the elevator up to the 5th floor. Tank motioned for me to enter my office and without a look at any of the other men working I did. Once I finally found out what was being kept from me I was going to make his life hell. My patience over all was pretty good but when it came to anything Stephanie related, I needed to know- immediately. I sat down at the large black chair behind my desk and stared at the door as Lester entered and shut it behind him. Even Lester's usually smart ass exterior was gone while both stood staring at me.

"If one of you doesn't say something soon I will whip this desk across the room at you." The rage I had been trying to maintain so far was threatening to reach a level I wasn't going to be able to come back from.

Santos finally spoke up. "Well about a month ago there was an attack."

"On Stephanie." Tank added, as if my mind suddenly couldn't put shit together on my own.

"Where was she attacked?"

"Her house."

"And the security system we had installed?" Their eyes quickly darted to each other and back at me. That's it- I stood up and slammed my fists on the desk as hard as I could. The noise was sure to make people in the surrounding buildings think a bomb had gone off.

"Don't test my patience right now." I seethed through my teeth. Lester sighed and plopped himself into the chair sitting across from me. Good- at least he was close enough for me to wring his neck if he kept me waiting.

"Alright, one night late I was in the control room just checking in on the guys and suddenly the cameras to Steph's place went out, no one else's. So I immediately called her up and there was no answer and since I was just coming up from the gym I was just in shorts. I ran to my room threw on a shirt and pants and drove to her house when I got there Morelli was just pulling up. My first reaction was he did something but the fear in his face told me something else was wrong. We both ran into her house and it was a disaster scene there was clearly a struggle, the screen door was wide open, and there was a trail of blood leading to the steps. We heard Stephanie crying upstairs and we both drew our guns and ran to her- by then Tank and a few others had shown up and was in the process of searching her house. But she was…" My blood was boiling and I tried to keep everything back as I watched Lester's face shudder. "She looked awful blood everywhere and we couldn't even touch her without her flinching away from us. Ambulance showed up and took her to the ER, there were a few really big deep cuts on her thighs and arms that needed stiches. And well…" Lester gulped back and looked to Tank for him to continue.

"When Santos and Morelli got to her the only clothing she was wearing was a ripped up shirt. I guess they did a test at the hospital but didn't find any semen on her, but he tried."

They were done and I was furious, I turned around and laid a punch directly into the wall behind me. A hole in the shape of my fist was left when I pulled my hand back.

"Why the FUCK didn't you tell me when I called two weeks ago!"

"She asked us not to." Tank's voice was firm, but I knew he was a little shaken by my anger.

"I don't give a fuck! Someone laid their hands on her- I should have been told the Goddamn second it happened!"

Santos sat up a little higher in his chair. "Steph, didn't want you to be worried and do something that could get you hurt." The chair was annoyingly close to me so I shoved it backward with all my force before reaching out and latching my hands into Lester's shirt and pulling him to his feet.

"How long did it take you to get there from the time the cameras went out."

"25 minutes tops!"

"25 MINUTES! What the hell were you doing!"

"I told you, plus it takes 15 minutes to get to her house."

"You should have made it your first priority to immediately get to her- I don't care if you were wearing a speedo in the middle of winter! You could have stopped this!"

"Since you left there hadn't been any issues before this one. Nothing suspicious what-so-ever, she worked in the office at the department and had no one coming after her."

"So that means our system just happened to flake out on her house- and you fucking mosey around and don't go to her!"

"I did go to her! You don't think I haven't replayed that night in my mind a million times and thought of all the things I could have done differently!"

"Where was my kid!?" The words not only shocked Tank and Lester- but me too. I loved Aly and thought of her as a huge part of my life- but never before had I considered her my kid.

"She was with Steph's parents that night." At least she wasn't there for that, I released Lester's shirt and threw him backwards into his chair.

"Who was this guy?"

Tank stepped forward, apparently this was the tag team part of this conversation. Tank I knew would be working double time to find this out for me.

"We haven't come up with anything yet. We're looking into everyone that has given Stephanie trouble in the past and we're getting nothing."

"What about the issue with the cameras?" Once again their eyes darted between each other and I was seconds from shaking the answer out of Lester once again.

"They were looked at from around the house- there was nothing that was damaged that showed what may have caused it." Just when I thought the rage couldn't get any worse- I was rudely mistaken.

"It was an inside job- someone with access to the control room did this?"

"I've talked to everyone and nothing is adding up to anyone of them that might have done anything to hurt Steph."

"Well I'm not going to just accept that- every single one of them will be talking to me." Tank nodded, I'm sure he expected nothing less from me.

I paced back and forth for a minute behind my desk trying to let my anger subside a little. Finally, I had calmed down (enough) to ask the next set of questions.

"How is she now?" Lester stood up take over these questions.

"She's really bad, I mean she's dealt with a lot of shit in the past but this was different. The first few days after she got home she pretended to be the same Steph, with no problems and no fear. But it wasn't hard to see she was struggling with this, but one night I was leaving Suzanne's at about 10 and decided to check on Steph. I used the spare key you gave me before leaving to get in and when I got in she was sitting on the floor of the kitchen balling her eyes out. I have never seen her so scared, and I thought someone else was there but she told me no one was there but her. Aly I guess was staying with Joe at the time, so we packed up some stuff and she slept in your room on 7."

"It's hers too." I added in before I could stop, and he nodded in understanding before continuing.

"Over the next few days it was like watching someone's life leave the body. The color left her eyes, she hardly slept and was always lost in her own thoughts. She quit her job and we gave her a position here to work on pretty much whatever she can handle. But she is still not right, nothing like how she usually is, and I don't think Aly's been home since the accident. Either Joe has her or Steph's parents, but when she does have her for the night they always sleep upstairs."

"What about the night's that she isn't with Aly?"

"She sits at home but won't sleep, you can see her talking to someone- but no one else is ever there."

It wasn't often I felt completely helpless, until right now. While I was away the greatest tragedy Stephanie had gone through happened, and I wasn't here to protect her. I needed to see her, I couldn't believe she wasn't the same Stephanie- I had to see it for my own eyes.

"Ranger, just so you know when you do go see her- she doesn't want to be asked about what happened. That's why we're telling you now, we all figured you'd go straight to her but she insisted we fill you in on everything before you saw her." Santos said, and I nodded. There was nothing else I could say to either of them, I just knew I couldn't be here.

"I'll be back later- but I want to see every single police report and information about this when I get back."

"Of course." Tank said and both stepped away as I took off out the door. I ran down the steps and sunk behind the wheel of my Porsche 911 Turbo and tore off. But the closer I got to Stephanie's house, the more I realized I couldn't face her- just yet. So I steered the car in a different direction and 10 minutes later I was walking up to Joe Morelli's front door. I pounded on the door and from the inside I could hear Aly talking away and a few seconds later Morelli answered. Now I had seen Morelli look like shit many times; but his facial hair was clearly visible, and bags hung under his eyes. He sighed when he saw me and held up a finger to tell me to wait.

"Baby, you stay here and play with Bob okay?"

"Kay daddy." I heard her reply as he stepped back outside shutting the front door behind him.

"Welcome back." He said with no enthusiasm. "Is this a friendly visit or one that's going to lead to us fighting- cause I have to tell you I am so not in the mood for that right now."

"I just have some questions, I was informed on what happened from my men but before I see her I wanted to talk to you first. Lester said you showed up at the same time he did- what were you doing there?"

"I called Steph to ask her if I could have Aly that weekend, and cause I was bored. I called her cell phone and I heard the phone click on and in the background I heard her screaming and yell help before the phone went dead. I jumped in my car and drove over, I called it in on my way but I got there before the squads and by the time we got there the fucker had fled."

"How has she been?"

"I've never seen anything like it." He ran his hand through his unruly hair, shaking his head. "You can hardly talk to her because her attention is always somewhere else. I've been trying to take Aly as much as possible and her mom still watches her during the day, but it's like she's on a different frequency."

"Alright, did you need to bring Aly home to them tonight?"

"No, I have her tonight."

"Okay, I need to go see her." I started walking back to my car but Joe called out to me.

"One word of advice before you go." I turned to face him. "Don't sneak up on her, I mean make it very well known that it is you there. To say she is jumpier than usual would be a complete understatement."

"Thanks, Morelli." I hopped back in my car and took off once again to her house.

I used my key to unlock the door and even though the place was in order- I still felt like I was looking at the disaster scene Lester had described to me.

"Hey Babe." I yelled out but didn't receive a reply. I heard soft murmurs coming from the bedroom and I couldn't help but run up the stairs. I stopped at the door to the bedroom and sitting on the bench under the bay window was Stephanie, a blanket wrapped over her shoulders. I tapped my knuckles on the door and she turned to face me, a soft partial smile stretched over her lips. There was no way this was my babe- her skin was paler than I had ever seen it before, her eyes looked at me but I didn't know if she could actually see me. It was completely obvious that she hadn't been sleeping and it took everything in me to remain cool and composed.

"Hi Ranger."

Ranger, I couldn't help but hurt. Every moment I was away from her when things seemed unbearable I imagined her saying my name. Family had always called me by my name but hearing her say it was completely different. The way her perfect lips formed the word and the way it rolled off the tip of her tongue. I had wanted more than anything to hear her say it again- but I couldn't ask her to call me Carlos. She had to say it on her own and so I had to remain unphased by being called Ranger again. I slowly walked over to her and as I neared her I watched her body tense up as I put my arms around her. She let me hold her, but it wasn't in a satisfying way that I had hoped for. I looked down at her and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, to just see her like this.

"I missed you, Steph." Her hand raised to my cheek and slowly stroked the line of my jaw.

"I missed you, too." I moved to sit down next to her on the bench but saw her face tense up.

"Good God will you move!" She screamed out, the pain obvious in her voice. I stared at her and stood back up and she shook her head in response.

"No Ranger, not you." My eyes darted around the room looking for someone else that she could be talking to- but there was no one.

"Will you stay with me in my apartment tonight at RangeMan?" There was something about this house and I didn't know what it was but I got the feeling it was draining the life right out of her and I couldn't just sit by and watch it happen.

"Yeah sure."

"Will you come now?" She shook her head.

"I need to wait a little bit."

"Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders and returned to staring out the bay window into the backyard. I stood there silently watching the reactions on her face change slowly. Her perfect composed face would suddenly tighten, her eyes would roll, she quickly shook her head. Once again I had to look around for someone- it was like she was having a conversation with someone. I didn't know how much longer I could stay here; seeing her this way was absolutely killing me- and I couldn't do anything here to change it.

"I need to run some errands- should I pick you up later?"

"I'll drive myself."

"But you'll come?"

"Yes." I reached down and placed a lingering kiss on her hair, breathing in the intoxicating scent of her hair. When I found out whoever did this to her- I was going to kill him even if that meant spending my life behind bars. There was no way anyone was going to take away the amazing person she was and leave her as this empty shell. I flipped open my phone and dialed Tank's cell.

"Yeah?"

"Steph's coming to RangeMan later- call me when she pulls in."

"Will do." I hung up and took off, hoping to take my anger out on the pavement.

A couple hours later I got a call from Tank telling me Stephanie was just pulling in, and within 10 minutes I was back and on my way up to 7 to see my Babe. When I opened the door I saw her sitting on the couch and even though she still looked pale and exhausted- something seemed a little better. She got to her feet and ran into my arms and without hesitation I wrapped my arms tight around her. We stood still for a minute breathing each other and savoring the moment- I couldn't deny I was afraid that in a moment she was going to recoil the way she did at her house. When she pulled back from me I feared I was losing her but instead she reached up and touched her lips to mine. It was better than I had remembered the feeling of her lips against mine, holding her in my arms- and knowing she was my babe. I wanted to rip off her clothes and take her then and there but I knew nothing yet about where her stitches were and after the trauma she experienced I didn't want to scare her away. She pulled back and I saw a new level of sadness in her eyes, her fingers once again tracing my jaw.

"I am so tired, Ranger." I swept her up into my arms and carried her to my bed, hoping that just by being near her I could be the calm she needed.

A/N: Wooo… Lots to get out! Hope you enjoyed, you know what to do…. Review : )