Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own anything. Everything belongs to Janet Evanovich.

Chapter 1

The person you were then, the person you are now

She could tell, he was watching her. Sitting on the chair like he used to do, arms crossed over his chest, black eyes fixed on her. She didn't need to steal a glance at him.

She would have liked to shake her head at that picture, but instead decided to just let the fact wash over her that he was acting weird lately – even weirder than usually.

Careful not to make a traitorous movement, Steph tried to simply ignore his presence and to go back to sleep.

It wasn't easy, as always.

The thought that he was there in her apartment, silently watching her for hours, made her somehow uneasy. He should not do this. He had no reason to.

It started about one and a half months ago. Like every other day the past few weeks before, Steph would leave her cubby late in the night to take the elevator and to go back to her apartment on the fourth floor.

Inwardly thanking Ella for preparing some food for her, she would eat a bit and then go to bed early.

Only to wake up at two a.m. with the certain knowledge that she was not alone anymore.

Since the hair on the back of her neck felt somewhat electrified she already knew who it was.

They did not speak and she did not make any move to acknowledge his attendance.

He just sat there what seemed like for eternity.

They never mentioned that event the other day. Well, she was not even sure that he knew, she had been awake.

But since that night a kind of routine had been appeared. He would come some time after midnight – obviously after his last job or just when everybody else at RangeMan ought to be securely asleep – unlocking her door and slipping through it without making any noise. Crossing her apartment like he would live there, he would enter her bedroom and take a seat next to her.

Watching her.

Strangely Steph liked it in some way. She liked the exciting floods of hope that unintentionally crept into her heart. Losing herself in the wonderful illusion he would actually care about the real her and not only about her safety.

Every time he just sat there in the dark, all his senses focused on her, a warmth spread all over her body that she had not felt for a very long time.

But also she welcomed every night he came to her, the safety his mere presence provided, she feared those feelings that his actions brought up. Because she knew she would only get disappointed.

He had a company to run, many employees who took part in that big working system of RangeMan: He would not visit her to just look after her.

Maybe he finally had realised that she was not the woman anymore she used to be.

Great work, Sherlock… Steph suppressed a rather sarcastic snort.

He would never care about the real her. How could he?

She was a mess. An unlovable thing that was slowly turning into a robot.

A robot… Would it not be nice to live in that cold world without feelings that could be rejected? Without hopes and wishes that could be destroyed by simple actions?

Would it not be better, if nobody could get too close to you and so be able to break you?

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Stretching his legs on the carpet, he could feel the sigh coming up his throat. He always could sense the tension vacate his body when he visited his Babe.

Doing the job he did was not easy. But he had no choice. His past had marked him in more than one way, causing too many barriers to form themselves around his heart over the years.

He was not a very emotional man. At least not in his outward appearance. For the world outside he had changed his image completely. Settling in a little town like Trenton, running an own company like RangeMan, working as a bounty hunter for Vinnie.

He had many faces to show to the people who spent their whole lives just gossiping around.

Only a few people knew him really.

His gaze wandered over the quiet lying form on the bed. He knew she was not asleep, he always could tell it by the way her body tensed reluctantly.

He had to smile to himself. As when his Babe really thought she could fool a former military member.

It was one of those innocent character traits of hers that he appreciated so much. She was different like every other woman he had ever met.

Sure, this sounded like an old outworn phrase lovesick people used. But it was true.

Seeing her made him calm, almost content.

He would be just happy to sit there and watch her all night – would not be there the little detail about her saying that she had changed a lot in the last couple of weeks.

In a more than only concerning way.

When he first met her she had that special spirit enclosing her. Being a little naïve girl from the Burg who suffered from a permanent lack in her pocketbook, she could not have had worse ambitions to fulfil the job she was about to accomplish.

Back then he could not really tell why he actually had agreed to help her. Sure, she had been funny and smart, but he usually not volunteered to help a stranger that easy.

However the way she acted around him impressed him somehow. He was used to women each age fainting or fanning themselves when he appeared, drooling over his muscled body. He knew that, he was not imbecile.

His Babe in contrast had faced him with an unfamiliar respect, treating him like a human being and not like a movie star who had not enough brain cells to know how bounty hunter even was spelled.

Well, nevertheless he knew that he had an affect on her, but it was the first time in years that he enjoyed it. He enjoyed touching her, feeling the breath caught in her throat, the shudder that went through her whole body, but he even more enjoyed kissing her. Encircling her with his arms to bring her as close to him as possible.

Suddenly very sad he shook his head.

He really missed her.

That might sound stupid since she still was there, in her apartment at RangeMan, but he knew very well that something was different. He just could not put a finger on it.

He was convinced that she asked herself why he kept visiting her every night, although he never made an attempt to talk to her or to touch her.

Well he in contrast asked himself why she did not confront him with the fact that he disturbed her sleep at an ungodly hour like she used to do back in older times.

What had changed her that much?

She even barely had fought him when he had suggested to stay at RangeMan after her break-up with the cop.

Wait, the cop…was it about him?

Unconsciously his hands clenched into fists.

Everybody in Trenton knew about the great argument Steph and Morelli had after the Constantine Stiva incident. Word on the street said that they had argued at Morelli's house. It should have been very loud and even some plates should have been shattered.

After about an hour Steph should have left the house, crying, and should have broken down on the pavement.

Since then it had been a very hard time for Ranger to control himself not to do anything stupid…like beat the cop up.

The only thing that prevented him from doing so was the thought that nobody really knew what had happened said night between his Babe and Morelli. Steph hadn't mentioned anything about it and Ranger doubted that it would change anytime soon.

He did not want to interfere too much with her life, afraid she would turn her back completely on him.

It was enough that it felt awkward not to embrace her or kiss her, but it was different than before. She had built up a cold charisma around her that made it impossible for him to get through to her.
And it scared him. Did she not know that she could always come to him no matter what the reason was? That he would always be there for her?
He felt the sudden urge to grab her and shake her, make her realise how important she was to him, make her talk. But he couldn't. He knew it.

He just didn't know what to do.

Quietly he stood up, chancing a last glance at the woman he cared so much about, before turning around and leaving her apartment to catch up some sleep himself.

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She was sitting in her cubby, doing the inquests the guys from RangeMan had asked her for.

It was like a trance. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, absorbing every little detail that was offered to her.

It was no wonder that the ringing sound of her cell phone startled her. Grabbing her handbag, she looked rather suspiciously at the caller id.

Seeing who was calling her, a lot of emotions washed over her. Stephanie didn't bother to answer the phone. She didn't need another homily of how miserable her life was by her mother. She knew it very well herself.

She simply ignored the annoying sound and went on working.

Two months ago Ranger had asked her out of the blue to stay at one of the apartments at RangeMan's. She still didn't really know why he had asked, but even less she knew why she had agreed to his suggestion.

Since moving in completely at the RangeMan building, Steph didn't get to know a lot about her former friends or her family anymore. Carrying her handbag was rather a nostalgic habit than really a necessity.

A lot of things had changed.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door that made her wince and a second later Bobby stuck his head in. "Hey, Bomber!"

She gave him a weak smile in return and waited patiently for him to tell her his request.

Seeming a little bit unsure he rubbed his neck with one hand. "Well, I was wondering if you would like to go get some food with me at Pino's. The guys are starving and they have enough of the diet food Ranger is keeping here. So, are you available?"

He seemed nearly sincere. Virtually as if he would really care whether she would come with him or not.

She sighed and cast a glance at her screen.

"Sorry, Bobby, but I have a lot of work to do. I don't want that you guys have to wait for the information I have to search for."

His face fell a little at her words. It shocked her. "Maybe another time," she added quickly and turned back to the computer.

She heard him close the door a few moments later and inhaled deeply.

Why should he care? Even Ranger didn't.

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His head hung down as he entered the control room, only to be greeted by a handful of expectant co-workers.

"Could you get Bomber to leave the building with you?" Tank asked in a hopeful voice.

Bobby shook his head, noticing the abrupt change in the men's behaviour when they all got disappointed and frustrated. It was no secret that Stephanie hadn't left the building since her move-in.

They watched her carefully throughout the days, trying to reason her sudden change in behaviour, but couldn't right figure something out.

The were all more than eager to help their Bombshell and to find out what caused her to be that unhappy – or who.

Lester even spoke it out loud. He was completely sure that Morelli was a major factor in this, while Tank wasn't so sure of that. He didn't think that this stupid cop could have such a great influence in her to let her retreat in herself that much. She was a different person now and he was convinced that there was more behind it than the eye could see.

He even blamed Ranger in some way. He knew a lot about what had happened between his boss and the Bombshell. He also knew about that night.

And he knew that Ranger was not the best guy in showing his feelings openly.

Sadly he took a look at the screen, showing a particular brunette sitting on her chair, doing her work.

Tank just waited for something to show him what to do. He wasn't about to let her get through with her façade any longer. Maybe she didn't know it, but she was a great woman and she meant a lot to him and the other guys. She accepted them the way they were, not the way they looked or the images they had built up. And she trusted them. She trusted them more than she had ever trusted Morelli and also it sounded somewhat mushy, it really meant a lot to all of them.

They were tough guys. They could throw people through windows by using just one hand and tracked down people in every state in record time.

People feared them and most likely avoided them, not even daring to speak or look at them.

So unlike her.

She had given them much by simply treating them like normal guys, like they were valuable. Or the funny remarks of hers, the accidents with cars and people. She was a smart and kind person and they really saw her like a little sister.

Someone who could cheer them up by her mere presence and made them laugh on a regular bases. In fact she had become a very important part of their lives.

And that didn't even include what she meant to Ranger.

So they were all agreeing that she was someone special. Maybe now was the time to show it to her and to be there for her. Maybe it was time to quit playing around and confront her.

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People grow up and change in the process. It's something completely normal. Their personalities develop and they get own minds, own opinions, own attitudes. Sure, these character traits are influenced by many factors like environment and each one's family, but the core of their nature can't be totally suppressed.

If the person is now a grown-up, it's understandable that it's now even more hard to make a person change. But what if it happens despite all the experiences that person has? Despite all the friendships and support?

How can something like that happen?

And how to prevent it? Can you prevent it at all?

People who change into a completely different way suffer from something that bothers them a lot. Something that makes them question the world they are living in and even worse themselves.

It's not easy to help those persons to get through that. They most likely have lost faith in everybody and everything. So just being ready to help them is not enough.

Such persons build up some strange complexes that make it nearly impossible for their friends to get through to them.

Their friends must be aware of the possibility that they could get hurt in the process and that they are only able to really help when they put their own feelings aside.

Nobody said that would be easy.

So there's only one question left: Is she worth all the pain?